Love, Life And Other Four Letter Words
by RippedIntoPieces
Summary: Getting drunk was a mistake, especially since it led to Harry waking up naked in Draco Malfoy's bed. But mistakes can have positive repercussions and Harry finds himself learning to appreciate the blonde. Sadly, the course of love never did run smooth.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own, shame really...but no JK is the rightful owner here. Plot's mine though :D**

Harry supposed this…thing with Draco began when Draco asked him for a drink outside the Ministry on a warm summer evening, just after the Malfoy's hearing, to which Harry had been present and testified for. According to Draco, who had escaped prosecution on minor charges all thanks to Harry's interference, he deemed it appropriate to thank Harry for this in the way of a drink at the Leaky Cauldron. Harry was immediately suspicious and reluctant to agree to the offer of a drink with the school rival, and point blank refused practically as soon as Draco asked.

'No.' Harry said flatly, preparing to turn and leave, before a pale hand grabbed his shoulder and brought him back around to face Draco.

'Oh go on Potter,' Draco whined, 'The Chosen One can't be above getting drunk. Join me, just this once, you only have to have one Butterbeer, that's all.' Harry still refused and Draco rolled his eyes melodramatically, 'You're not scared of what you'll say to me under the influence of alcohol, are you Potter? I'm not going to find out you've been secretly lusting after me since you were 13, am I?' He said with a cocky smile on his thin lips, Harry blushed at the statement and of what he _might _say to Draco should he get drunk. Draco's suggestion that Harry loved, or lusted after him was one that was frighteningly close to the truth, the secrets that could spill out of him should he end up inebriated in Draco's company, were enough to give the Daily Prophet a field day. If Draco found out for real that Harry preferred men he would undoubtedly do two things; one: shudder and attempt to gain as much distance away from Harry as he could; and two: tell the Daily Prophet for a large exchange of galleons.

'Scared? Of you, Malfoy? Unlikely, if not impossible.' Harry said in an attempt to mimic the scathing tone that Draco often used. Draco smiled at the voice, before pointing at Harry with an indignant expression on his face,

'I'll have you know, Potter, that I can be terrifying. Grown men cry out in fear when they see me.' He sniffed loudly in an attempt to sound upset and Harry realised that Malfoy was joking, with him of all people. Harry sighed inwardly, assuming he'd most likely regret his decision later, but resolved to accept the offer.

'Of _course _they doMalfoy, now, I suppose I'll hear more of these supposed truths when we're out for this drink?' Harry replied with a slight smile on his face, amused as Draco went from playful boasting to surprise at Harry's response.

'Indeed you shall Potter, I was thinking the Leaky Cauldron? I can't say the Hog's Head is to my liking. Don't you agree?' Draco closely avoided mentioning the Three Broomsticks and Harry did likewise, making sure that he didn't bring up any of the events of their sixth year.

'The Leaky Cauldron it is.' Harry said as he prepared to apparate, disappearing from sight just before Draco with a swirl of robes.

O.o

With a sharp crack, Harry and Draco apparated to an alleyway just behind the Leaky Cauldron, a place ideal for hiding the fact wizards that were just appearing out of thin air from the Muggles.

Draco glanced warily as a drunken Muggle stumbled past the alley entrance and watched them with unfocused eyes, before he stumbled past them and muttered something about 'fucking gays'. Draco raised his eyebrows and tutted,

'Muggles are so incredibly obtuse. Our clothes and setting don't necessarily give the idea that we're fucking in the dirt out here.' Draco said huffily, before striding casually towards the door to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry followed hurriedly into the pub where he found Draco buying their drinks at the bar from a toothless Tom. Harry grabbed a small table in the corner away from the majority of the other customers as Draco made his way over to Harry, placing down a large glass of Firewhiskey and a steaming flagon of Butterbeer. Harry took a sip and gave Draco a murmur of thanks before leaning back in his chair and scrutinising the blonde in front of him. He was completely unsure as to what to say, and Draco seemed to think that Harry should be the one to initiate the conversation. Harry wracked his brains for something to say and decided to start with the first thing they had in common: school.

'So, are you looking forward to our eight year?' Harry asked brightly, regretting the question slightly when Draco's face darkened.

'I'm glad it's being held outside Hogwarts, I don't think I could cope there again. Not after…not after everything that's happened.' Draco replied quietly, taking a large sip of his Firewhiskey.

'I know what you mean, I don't think I can go through the grief of recalling where I killed Voldemort, or where…where everything else happened' He took in a sharp intake of breath as he recalled images of the dead Tonks, Remus and Fred lying on the narrow beds in the Great Hall, Harry tailed off as he felt like he'd just had the wind knocked out of him.

'Yeah, I'm hoping to get it over and done with as quickly as possible so I can move on with my life. NEWTS aren't the top of my priority list to tell you the truth.' Draco said in earnest, still looking away from Harry and at a wax ring on the table.

'Yeah…do you know what you want to do after we've finished?' Asked Harry, sipping at his Butterbeer, Draco frowned in thought,

'I'm not really sure, I'd like to do something potions related, that's the only subject I can really tap in to. I suppose my parents on the other hand, would prefer me to go into politics like my father did.' Draco wrinkled his nose in distaste, 'I guess it all just depends on NEWTS results. So perhaps my parents' wishes will be answered. What about you?' Draco questioned Harry with interest

'With a bit of luck, I plan on becoming an Auror.' Harry replied without even the slightest hesitation,

'Really?' Draco said with an air of surprise, 'I thought you'd want to take a break from fighting dark wizards.'

Harry nodded in understanding, seeing as this was the reaction he'd had from nearly everyone, even Ginny, who'd always understood what fighting Voldemort and every other evil thing in his path had meant for him.

'Well, I've been set on being an Auror since fourth year; funnily enough, it was a Death Eater who told me I'd be good at it, but I guess the idea just kinda stuck. Besides, Defence is my best option for pass grades; I got an O on my OWLS. And as you may have noticed, certain subjects, like Potions were never my forte. ' Draco smirked at this comment, recalling some of Harry's Potions blunders.

'No, clearly not.' He answered in an amused tone, 'But an Auror's a good career choice. A more solid choice than Potions, at least you're guaranteed to get somewhere.'

'Well,' Harry said, 'I like to think so.' He took a sip of Butterbeer, and they sat once again in an awkward silence, taking large sips of drink to pass the time. When both eventually drained their drinks, Draco stood up, much to Harry's surprise,

'Another round?' He asked cautiously, picking up his own glass and hovering over Harry's.

'Yeah sure, I'll get the next one.' Harry said with a quick nod, Draco smiled at the comment

'If I didn't know better Potter, I'd think you were trying to get me drunk.' He teased, before making his way to the bar and purchasing two Firewhiskey's. When he returned back to the table, he was met by worried eyes as the Firewhiskey was placed in front of Harry.

'Don't worry Potter; it's not laced with poison.' Joked Draco, before he realised his response would probably remind Harry of the fact that he'd poisoned the Weasel, accidentally, in the sixth year, 'Anyway,' He coughed, hastily changing the subject, 'Even the Chosen One can get a little inebriated, no-one's going to hold it against you, you've deserved it.' Harry shuddered at this comment, his brow furrowing in disagreement.

'I really wish people would stop that. I don't deserve anything, in the war; I got so many people killed, all of them trying to protect me. So what I killed Voldemort? That was chance and everybody knows it.' Harry said bitterly, swilling his drink in his hand, 'I deserve to be hated by anyone who lost someone, I don't deserve the title of hero; I'm a murderer. The Weasley's should despise me for what I did, Andromeda…Teddy.' Harry's voice cracked and he went silent, staring sightlessly at the scratched wood of the table. Draco sighed in annoyance,

'How the hell could anyone hate you Potter? God knows I tried and I ended up indebted to you for saving my life.' Draco pointed out in exasperation. Harry's head shot up and he looked at Draco like he'd just claimed to be a werewolf eloping with Gilderoy Lockhart.

'Don't mention that,' Harry said brusquely, 'It would be great if we could just forget about it. I don't want any unearned favours.' Draco laughed humourlessly,

'Harry, you saved me from Fiendfyre when you could have let me burn; any favour from me will be well earned.' Draco replied in a startlingly soft tone, surprised at Harry's simple-minded view of life debts. He supposed living with Muggles for 16 years prevented him from understanding magical customs and cultures.

'Well, don't expect me to collect that favour for a long time.' Harry retorted in a low, slightly hoarse voice, surprised at how quickly Draco had changed to using his first name.

'Oh I won't.' Draco said causally, as he drained another glass of Firewhiskey in a single gulp and noticed with a start that that Harry's was empty also.

'I believe it's your round Potter.' Draco drawled, pushing his glass towards Harry, who glared at him but made his way towards the toothless Tom nevertheless, noting the change back to Potter with something similar to disappointment.

O.o

When Harry returned to Draco, he slammed down two flagons of Butterbeer on top of the table, spilling some of their contents on the worn wooden tables, and slumped into his chair with a grimace on his face. Draco merely smiled at his companion and picked up the Butterbeer without complaint

'Good thinking Potter, this is ideal, I've already downed two Firewhiskey's in a row, wouldn't want to start slurring when the night is young.' He winked at Harry and took a sip,

'Malfoy, why are we really here?' Harry asked tiredly, as he watched the blonde from across the table

'What do you mean? I was under the impression we were having a drink.' Draco asked as he took another sip of Butterbeer

'You and I usually hate each other, yet here we are sipping drinks and exchanging pleasantries like the past seven years never happened. What I want to know is why.' Harry said impatiently, as Draco's eyebrows raised another notch.

'Maybe I don't want to hate you.' Draco said calmly, 'Maybe I want to be your friend, and I want to end this unpleasantness between the two of us. Is there something so wrong with that?' He asked as Harry continued to eye him suspiciously.

'Why would you want to be friends with me?' Harry asked incredulously 'You've never been into hero worship before.'

'I've never been into heroes at all frankly, however…if you were drunk enough.' Draco said wistfully, winking at Harry once again

'I'm serious. Why do you want to be my friend? I've got enough as it is thanks. I don't need another prat trying to cosy up to me just because I'm famous.' Harry said savagely, his eyes wild.

'Well, you may remember that I tried to be your friend before I even knew who you were. Remember, in Madam Malkin's? Obviously I didn't go about it in the right way, insulting everything you've ever known, but I tried nonetheless; and now the war is over I've decided to invest in some people I can actually call friend's instead of people who will just stab me in the back as soon as they get the chance.' He paused briefly before continuing along the same vein, 'I realise you'll think I'm just after a power trip, but I've seen the way you treat your friends, and I want to be part of that.' Draco explained calmly.

'Lovely speech.' Harry replied scornfully, rolling his eyes at Draco's claims 'Now what is it you really want? You've got money, fame, some surviving prestige and influence in the Ministry. What could you possibly need from me?' Harry growled, all calm completely evaporated, Draco shrugged,

'I don't know; you're right, I have all the things you mentioned. But, you know, maybe I'm not after material gain. Had you thought about that? I mean, I don't have anyone to talk to, or discuss my problems,' Harry snorted, 'you can be as derisive as you like, but it's true, Malfoy's have issues. And I don't have anyone to talk to about them. I want to be your friend for completely selfish and yet selfless reasons, but none of them have anything to do with improving my social status. I don't want the same things my parents want.' Draco said in a soft voice,

'Yet still I hear you allow them to choose your wife. Whatever claim you have to want different things then your parents is completely worthless. If you're still so wrapped up in doing what your parents tell you to do, you and I will never be friends. Especially if you're just using me to ride around the high end of the Ministry, because if that's all you're trying to do, you can forget this drink and leave me alone.' Harry said acerbically as Draco crumpled and bashed his head on the table.

'Oh dear god, Potter! Can you not get it through your thick Gryffindor skull that I just want to be your friend? No strings attached, no unearned favours, nothing!' Draco yelled, causing the entire pub to look at him with bemused expressions. Harry smiled at them politely, and the majority of the Leaky Cauldron's customers look away, a few still staring with blatant interest. Harry turned back to Draco, who was looking positively feral as he glowered at Harry,

'Now there's the Draco Malfoy I know.' Harry said with a smile, 'I was wondering when you'd get frustrated with me. Alright, I accept that for whatever supposedly selfless reason, you want to be my friend. I'm willing to try it out. Although, I'd appreciate it, if you kept your bigoted views of my friends, my parents and my upbringing to yourself when I'm around you.' He watched Draco shrewdly, but the blonde had visibly relaxed and nodded vigorously before smiling at Harry brightly.

'Will do, I'll say nothing against the Weasel and Granger in your presence.' Harry looked at him pointedly, 'Sorry, I meant Weasley. Anyway, what do you think; another round to celebrate?' Harry rolled his eyes, but he smiled at Draco nonetheless as Draco grabbed their glasses and walked back to the bar.

O.o

Harry glanced down at his watch and noticed with a start that it had just gone midnight, looking blearily at Draco through his drunken haze, he said,

'Midnight, do you reckon Tom would appreciate we leave?' Draco glanced at the bar man who was cleaning glasses and looking in their direction every so often, clearly hoping they would go so he could shut up shop. He nodded at Harry and the two of them waved at Tom, stumbling out the door into the warm, summer night. Harry stopped down the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron, looking up at the full moon and thinking of Remus with the familiar weight pressing on his chest; shaking himself internally, he turned to Draco,

'Do you want to go on a walk? There's a park round here somewhere…we could, uh, admire the sunrise?' He suggested lamely, as Draco snorted scornfully

'The sun won't rise for another 6 hours you dolt,' He paused briefly, frowning slightly, '…Come on, I've got a flat near here, present from my parents for my 18th. We can go there for the rest of the night; I trust you have nowhere pressing to go in the morning.' He barely gave Harry time to answer before continuing, 'Good. Luckily, I am less affected by alcohol than you, so hopefully, I won't splinch us.' Draco grabbed Harry's arm and apparated before Harry could protest, leaving the alley empty with a loud crack.

O.o

Draco amazed Harry as he still managed to manipulate the wards on his house to allow Harry to enter, even though he had already downed three Firewhiskey's and two Butterbeer's, yet still had the lucidity to remember the incantation and wand movements he needed that would allow Harry to enter the dwelling unharmed. Together they walked up the path and Draco pushed open the glossy, blue door allowing him and Harry to walk into a darkened hallway. Draco lit the light hanging from the ceiling with a flick of his wand, bathing the two of them in bright yellow glow and making Harry squint as the light suddenly filled his eyes. Draco led Harry through the house and into the kitchen, exposing Harry once again to the sudden searing light as he lit the kitchen ones with another flick of his wand. As soon as Harry adjusted to the brightness and was no longer squinting, he noticed Draco was watching him expectantly with a bottle of wine in his hands.

'Although to you it may seem like bedtime, it really isn't too late, and you and I don't have school tomorrow. Do you fancy some more to drink? I've got some Elvin wine,' He gestured to the bottle, 'Want some?' Harry nodded and Draco conjured two glasses and filled them with a pale, yellow liquid which he handed to Harry who accepted with a quiet murmur of thanks.

They made their way into the living room, which was surprisingly decorated in cream and pale blue, contradicting the décor of Malfoy Manor. Draco seemed to notice Harry's astonishment,

'Not very Slytherin, I know, I quite like it actually. Slytherin style usually relies far too much on silver and silk. This is much cheaper, and it looks a lot nicer.' Draco said, as Harry smiled and nodded in agreement before sinking into one of the pale, blue sofas and looking up at Draco, who was leaning against the wall and drinking his wine casually, scrutinising a painting on the opposite wall.

'So…what do we do now?' Harry asked awkwardly as he took a sip of his wine and allowed the sweet, syrupy liquid to rest on his tongue, concentrating on it as a means of distracting him.

Draco, who remained looking at the other wall, replied nonchalantly, 'Good question Potter, if I were with a friend here - unlikely, seeing as I have none at this current point, but if I were - I would probably converse with them.'

'About what exactly?' Harry asked irritably,

'Our lives, our friends, our romances, jobs, families, anything we want actually. For instance, all night you've been avoiding any talk of redheads, surprising actually, I would have thought they'd be a main topic of conversation, so I shall start with them; I heard you broke things off with the Weaslette. What happened there? Last time I saw you, the two of you were practically joined at the lips.' Draco questioned curiously, oblivious to Harry's suddenly panicked expression as the brunet ran through different answers to the question in his head, all of them intended to be as discrete as possible.

'We had…conflicting interests. I wasn't what she wanted, she wasn't what I wanted, we just agreed it wasn't going to work between us so we broke it off.' Harry replied carefully as Draco snorted at the answer,

'Well that was cryptic, conflicting interests? I don't suppose you could elaborate on that matter?' Draco asked teasingly,

'Honestly Malfoy, I don't really think it's any of your business.' Harry growled, sending Draco a dark look from his place on the sofa.

Draco smirked, 'Actually Potter, seeing as you and I are attempting to be friends now, this is the sort of thing that you'd tell me about.' He ignored Harry's pout, 'Now what were these conflicting interests? Did the redhead find out you were gay or something?' Draco joked, laughing casually before stopping short when he noticed Harry had paled substantially, 'Merlin's pants, was that it? Do you prefer men to freckled redheads?' Draco asked incredulously, unable to comprehend that Harry Potter, saviour of the wizarding world, was a homosexual. Harry sighed at Draco's assumption, clearly expecting the worst reaction,

'Yes Malfoy, I prefer men to _women,_ I only found out recently, in the past few weeks actually. Now go ahead, reject me.' Harry said bitterly, placing his glass down on a table next to the sofa and hanging his head.

'What do you mean? I'm not going to reject you, in case you hadn't realised I'm not exactly the most heterosexual of men.' Draco replied

'Oh please, you're off with Pansy Parkinson, everyone knows it. You're just trying to make me feel better.' Harry said disparagingly, 'When Ginny found out, she tried to be understanding, she even tried to smile at me when I told her the truth, but I could tell she was repulsed by the mere sight of me. I – I tried to give her a pat on the shoulder and she flinched! It was like I was this horrible monster to her…god, what's wrong with me? She and I can barely talk now because of this; the Weasley's are all acting differently around me now, even Ron. It's just a matter of time before I lose all of them.' Harry's voice broke off, as he stammered out his confession and fought the urge to cry, brushing back the hot tears that had begun to form in the corner of his eyes. Distracted by his own grief, he didn't notice as Draco moved to sit next to Harry on the sofa, their knees brushing slightly as Draco put an awkward hand on Harry's shoulder and stroked in a soothing rhythm.

'E-everything's meant to be simple now! I've done everything I need to do, everything everyone's asked of me. How did I manage to screw everything up all over again?' Harry said frantically into his hands, covering his tear-strained face, the worry and frustration of the past month or so bubbling over and pouring out in the form of tears.

'Listen Harry, you haven't screwed anything up, the wizarding world honestly doesn't care as much about gay wizards as Muggles apparently do. Give Weasley a while to adjust, it must have come as a bit of a shock, I never would have pinned you as gay frankly, and if she didn't you must have been hiding it pretty well. She'll get over it in time, but if you think about it, she's probably pretty embarrassed that Harry Potter realised he preferred men when he was dating her. Just give it a while, everything will sort itself out.' Draco said knowingly, as Harry pulled away from Draco's hand and wiped away the tears that were trickling down his cheeks.

'Ron won't understand, he'll think I was trying to hurt Ginny; that I purposely pretended to be straight just to upset her. Even though we're friends, she is his sister; he'll hate me for this.' Harry said morosely, his eyes downcast as he processed the thought of his best friend despising his existence. Draco decided that if Harry was continuing to think along this vein of pity and doubt, there were only two responses to this statement. One, allow him to wallow, or two, prove him wrong. He decided on the one that appealed to him the most, especially in his intoxicated state. Grabbing Harry's chin, he forced the brunet to look him in the eyes.

'Harry, I thought I already told you, it's practically impossible for anyone to hate you.' He said plainly, as Harry looked up at him with glassy eyes. Suddenly, Draco leaned down and kissed Harry softly on the lips, causing Harry's eyes to widen in shock. He mumbled something into Draco's lips, but he didn't pull away, or wrench himself out of Draco's grip when the blonde wrapped his arms around Harry and brought him closer. Draco, taking this as a victory, instantly began to kiss Harry with more vigour, angling his head to allow himself better access to Harry's mouth; biting Harry's bottom lip and slipping his tongue into the moist cavity, savouring the sweet aftertaste of the wine that still lingered in Harry's mouth. He traced his tongue along the inside of Harry's cheek and teeth, smiling slightly when the smaller boy shivered against him at the sensation. Breaking away from Harry, much to the brunet's disappointment, Draco started to place a series of kisses along Harry's neck, behind his ear, and on his collarbone, biting at the soft skin where Harry's neck met his shoulder and swirling his tongue sensuously around the mark, leaving a dark bruise on the pale skin.

Without pulling away, Draco began unbuttoning Harry's shirt with nimble fingers, exposing Harry's heaving chest to Draco who traced the skin, putting the outline of Harry's skin to memory. He rolled one of Harry's nipples between two fingers, making Harry hiss as the sensation sent shocks of pain and pleasure towards his groin. Draco continued to kiss down Harry's body, swirling his tongue over both nipples before biting down on Harry's hipbone, making Harry squirm and let out a gasp, before finally taking initiative and gripping Draco's shirt and pulling his up for a rough kiss. He too began to undo the buttons on Draco's shirt, and they broke apart only to allow Harry to pull the interfering cloth away from Draco's body. Draco grinned as Harry drank in the sight of Draco without a shirt on, frowning slightly at the silver scars covering the skin, and tracing them with a finger.

Draco sighed, refusing to be put off by the pity in Harry's eyes, and he brought Harry close to him, bruising his lips, and sucking at his collarbone as a means of distracting Harry from the marks covering part of his chest. Harry whispered in his ear in-between moans and sharp breaths,

'I'm sorry Draco.' Draco shook his head, ignoring the comment and moving his hands from around Harry's back to the belt of Harry's jeans, quickly unbuckling it with shaking hands, just as he was about to pull away the material preventing the both of them from getting what they wanted, a cool hand grabbed hold of his wrist and made him pause.

'Not here. Please.' Harry whispered, releasing the wrist and placing a delicate kiss on Draco's jaw.

'Ever the romantic, I suppose Potter.' Draco complained teasingly, before leading Harry into the bedroom and pushing him onto the pale covers. He returned back to the task at hand, pulling down Harry's jeans with a slight manic expression on his face, Harry kicked off the trousers and sat up to undo Draco's trousers with equal determination. Soon, both men lay panting on the bed, Draco on top of Harry in a rather dominant manner, his hips pinning Harry to the bed. He placed butterfly kisses along Harry's stomach and on the skin just above the waistband of his underwear, he tapped his fingers on the sensitive skin and Harry squirmed beneath him.

'Draco…get on with it already.' Harry growled, and Draco smiled at the impatient tenor in his voice, before ripping Harry's underwear down his legs and leaving the Boy-Who-Lived incredibly vulnerable on the sheets. Harry groaned as the underwear brushed past him and freed him from restraints of his boxers.

'You know, you look mighty fetching on my bed-spread, I may have to keep you there permanently.' Draco joked easily, pulling his own underwear off swiftly and returning back to lie on Harry's lithe frame. Their cocks brushed one another and they both moaned at the friction created, their hips crashing into each other, trying to recreate the sensation. Draco kissed Harry furiously, biting at his lips and pushing against Harry's tongue, demanding that Harry submitted to him and allowed him to have control. Strangely enough, Harry allowed this to happen and he stopped pushing against Draco's tongue and allowed himself to be sucked into the kiss.

Whilst they were kissing, Draco's hand began to sneak steadily downwards in between the two of them, with a casual stroke Draco began to brush against Harry's erection, as Harry moaned into the mouth that still had his tongue captive.

As Draco increased the speed of his stroke, Harry bucked into Draco's hand, throwing his head backwards and pulling away from the kiss, breathing heavily. Draco chuckled at his reaction, and placed his legs on either side of Harry's hips, straddling him firmly as he groped for his wand which was lying on the side table next to the bed, gripping it in one hand he cast a quiet cleaning spell, coupled with a lubrication spell and Harry squirmed as he felt the spells run through him, a cool liquid placed around his entrance. For once second he panicked as he realised what he was doing was real, and not a hyped up daydream, but he quickly calmed himself with a few deep breaths, moaning as Draco gently stroked his weeping cock. Lost in the feelings of lust, he barely registered when Draco said,

'This is going to hurt, but I promise you it gets better.' Draco then placed a single finger in his entrance and pain shot through his nerve endings, making him freeze against Draco and bite his lip. Draco watched him with concern,

'Are you ok?' He asked worriedly,

'Mmmmm, just give me a second.' Harry said awkwardly, still staying stock still against the intrusion into his backside. He tried not to cry out when Draco moved his finger steadily forwards, pushing apart the strong rings of muscle slowly, as Draco entered another finger and began scissoring Harry with gentle meticulousness. Harry ignored the slight pain as Draco stretched the muscles inside him, concentrating on the weave of the duvet cover, or on Draco's flushed face. He remained as still as possible, until Draco brushed gently against the small bundle of nerves inside him, which made him jerk upwards, crying out loudly and squirming on the sheets, and pushing back on the hand inside him. Draco smirked and took that as his cue to add another finger, brushing Harry's prostate once again and causing a loud, breathy moan to escape from the brunet's lips. He continued to stretch and brush against the bundle of nerves until Harry was quivering on the sheets, breathing heavily and flushed with arousal. Draco finally retracted his fingers, covering Harry's whine with a kiss and turning the brunet over onto his front.

'You ready?' Draco asked quietly, brushing Harry's erection with a single finger, and making Harry shiver against him.

'Go ahead and do it.' Harry instructed, tilting his head and kissing Draco softly on the lips, still being the eternal Gryffindor and acting overly-romantic in Draco's opinion. To him, this clearly wasn't just a quick fuck, something Draco was perfectly fine with, as the feeling was mutual.

'Well, I'm always one for obeying orders.' Draco said as he aligned himself and pushed the tip of his cock in Harry's stretched entrance. Harry groaned as he attempted to get accustomed to organ inside him, pushing apart his walls and threatening to rip his muscles. Draco also struggled to keep still when he was inside Harry, holding himself tightly and trying not to hurt Harry any more than had. _When did I become such a sentimental Hufflepuff?_ Draco asked himself contemptuously in spite of the situation, as his conscience mocked him for caring about the man he was about to fuck. _But you do care for him, that's what this is all about. _A voice at the back of his head said quietly, reminding Draco of his original purpose when he offered Harry that drink. His attention was brought back to earth by a single word from Harry,

'Move.'

And so he did.

Draco pulled out of Harry swiftly, before plunging back into the hot, tight hole and pushing apart Harry's muscles with quick precision. Harry let out a deep breath and gripped the sheets in clenched hands as Draco slammed back into him quickly, his pelvis pushing Harry into the sheets. At first, the feeling was…odd, as Harry tried to understand why the combination of pain, and the feeling of Draco's erection sliding in and out of him felt so good, but then Draco brushed against the small bundle of nerves inside Harry, and the brunet shook as pleasure wracked his body. They continued this motion for another few minutes, with half-words tumbling out of gasping mouths and sounds of contentment filling the air, then Draco wound his hand around Harry's length and began to stroke his enlarged member. Hitting his prostate another few times and stroking Harry with fervent determination, Draco caused Harry's mind to go blank at the unadulterated bliss that filled his body as he came over his stomach. Draco soon came into Harry; the hot white liquid spilling into Harry's entrance as his walls tightened around Draco's softening cock. The combination of ecstasy, pain and shock caused Harry to close his eyes and drift off into darkness, with Draco's heaving body pulling out of his and lying with his arms wrapped around Harry, holding him close and closing his eyes to join him in the realm of nothingness.

O.o

Harry woke the next morning to the dull throb of a headache surrounding his temple, as he opened his eyes he noticed with the faint air of panic that the warm bed he was lying in was not his own. Frowning, he waited until his eyes adjusted to the bright light streaming through the thin curtains covering the wide window on one side of the room. He moved slightly and heard a faint murmur of discontent coming from beside him; a lean, thin arm wrapped around his midriff, pulling him closer, and he now turned to his fellow bed companion. The pointed chin and pale, silvery blonde hair fanned out on the pillow made the man lying next to him easily recognisable. Draco pulled Harry close, resting his head in the hollow of Harry's collarbone, his warm breath tickling Harry's skin. Harry's own breath stuck in his throat, his chest constricting and he struggled to get his lungs working again when he realised he was naked under the covers. He tried to push the other man away, but instead the arm just tightened, pulling him even closer, constricting his movements.

Harry was momentarily distracted as the smell of peppermint pervaded his nostrils as the hair fanned out under his chin shifted and the smell of Draco's shampoo was released into the air. Then it finally clicked, he, Harry Potter, the supposedly straight hero of the wizarding world, was lying naked in a bed with his arch enemy Draco Malfoy, an ex-Death Eater, who was busy trying to wrap himself around Harry's midriff. Finally, Harry took action, manoeuvring himself from under the arm; he twisted and rolled out of bed onto the soft carpet. Harry immediately took notice of his surroundings, locating at least one item of his clothing, his underwear, being the last thing he'd taken off; he struggled to put it on in haste, eventually falling over and landing with a thud on the carpet.

Draco, who was now awake and aware he'd lost his human pillow, made a sound of annoyance, and a scowl marred his tranquil features. Blearily, he opened his eyes and watched as Harry stumbled, swore and winced as he stood up and tried once again to dress himself.

'Well good morning to you too Harry. It's not normal to find someone who slept so peacefully next to me all night trying to escape as quickly as possible in the morning. Having regrets are we?' Draco raised an eyebrow and smirked, 'Don't bother. We haven't done anything wrong. You also know you're gay for certain now, so everybody's happy. Now, feel free to come back to bed, we're not in any rush to leave.' Draco gestured to the empty space beside him, his sleep-mussed hair and groggy expression meaning his words were slightly slurred, and his smirk was less smug than usual, a more casual smile playing at the corner of his lips. Harry paused in his search for items of clothing to look at Draco in both horror and bemusement.

'Uh…n-no thanks, that's fine.' Harry stammered in an unnaturally high voice 'I should get going. I need to get back home, and I'm sure you've got better things to do.' He hastily grabbed his trousers, getting his leg caught in one of the leg holes, but pulling them on and fumbling with the belt. Draco slipped lazily out of the bed, the sheet wrapped around his waist, his half-naked form illuminated by the bright sunlight from outside; he wrapped his arms around Harry, who stiffened immediately at the contact.

'Actually Harry, I have nothing better to do than spend time with you. And maybe repeat the events of last night. I suppose I'll have to wait and see; although, you didn't complain last night so I assume it's fine.' He kissed the skin behind Harry's ear and the smaller boy yelped, pulling himself out of Draco's embrace.

'N-no Draco, seriously, I have to go. Perhaps…' He paused briefly, 'Perhaps it would be best if we just remained friends.' Harry glanced away from Draco's hurt gaze, stepping away from him and walking through the doors to the living room, picking up a shirt that was lying crumpled on the floor. Draco followed him, the sheet from the bed now slipping slightly on his hips and revealing the hip bones protruding from his thin frame.

'I suppose I'll see you at the Ministry then?' Draco asked casually, his tone clearly giving the impression that he wished to see Harry before then. Harry nodded, pushing his feet into his shoes, 'It'd be best if you took the Floo, easier that way.' Draco indicated to the fire place, which Harry then lit with a flick of his wand, which he'd pulled from his pocket. 'Powder's there.' He gestured to the small pot of greenish, glittering powder, which Harry promptly took a handful of. Stepping into the flame's he glanced at Draco, who regarded him with a cool gaze, the easy smile no longer on his face.

'I'll be seeing you then I suppose?' Harry asked,

'I suppose so, unless I see you sooner.' Draco said in agreement, he paused just as Harry was about to drop powder into the flames. 'One last thing Harry, I'm not sure if you've realised….but that's my shirt.' He smiled at Harry, who had only been half listening as he recounted the tips that Fred and George had given him on his first time travelling by Floo, removing his glasses from his nose and tucking them safely in his pocket. He dropped the powder into the flames, which flared green and called out '12 Grimmauld Place' in a clear tone, just as Draco pointed out the flaw in his clothing. Glancing firstly at his shirt, and then at Draco's smiling face, he was whisked away in a cloud of ash and reappeared in the fireplace coughing up dust as a worried Kreacher bent over his master's heaving frame; his bulbous eyes curious as to the absence of his master the night before.

O.o

Once Harry had brushed aside Kreacher's worried questions and sent him off to make breakfast, he hurried upstairs to Sirius' room and flopped down heavily on the bed, ignoring the queasy feeling the sudden movement caused in his stomach. He lay there, staring up at the ceiling, watching the dust particles float through the air, attempting to recollect the night before. Judging by his waking state and the dull ache in his backside, they'd gone a lot further than kissing, but he could only remember small glimpses of what had happened. Turning his attention to the pain in his arse, the queasy feeling in his stomach intensified as he considered just _exactly_ what Draco had done to him.

He stood up, swaying a little and walked into the bathroom, intending to shower and rid himself of Draco's smell; glancing at the mirror on the wall, he noted the dark purple bruise that was showing just under the collar of his – Draco's – shirt. That was going to be hard to hide, he thought briefly, peeling the shirt off so as to inspect the other damage. His nipples were bruised slightly, and there was another purple mark on his collarbone. Luckily, unlike the one on his neck, these marks were easy to hide; it wasn't like he walked around without a shirt on in public. Pulling off the remainder of his clothes, he turned on the shower and stepped into the warm spray of water; sighing slightly in appreciation as the water beat down on his tired muscles. He ignored the pain in his back as he stretched, clicking the joints and trying to wake his body up. After standing there for another ten minutes, allowing the water to wash over him in a continuous rhythm, he turned off the shower and stepped back out, wiping steam off the mirror to check his reflection. The bite on his neck was as visible as ever, and he brushed a finger over it in mild curiosity, shivering as the sensation sent a spew of memories running through his head.

_'Draco…get on with it.' _

He blushed as he remembered the sudden assertiveness that had overcome him the night before, no wonder he was in this mess now, he gets slightly inebriated and lets his own enemy take advantage of him. _Honestly, if this is what alcohol does to you, you should never drink again. I can't believe you'd be this irresponsible Harry. _Hermione's voice shrieked shrilly in his head, instantly making him feel ashamed of himself, even if he was only imagining her reaction. _No, it was Malfoy, he planned the whole thing. He bought the drink, and invited me back to his flat, and gave me the wine…clearly, he'd already pre-meditated the whole thing. He knew I was vulnerable from my break-up with Ginny. I was just caught in post-break up depression, and he took advantage of that fact. _

Happy with this reasoning, Harry resolved to go back downstairs and soothe the frazzled house elf, to forget the whole incident, and move on with his life. Even if it meant putting up with Malfoy as his friend, something he could stomach, as long as the Slytherin kept his hands to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you my lovely, lovely, lovely reviewers! I love you very muchly :D I also like you story alerters, but let me know what you think if you can. I don't bite. Much ;)**

**Onwards with the story!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Belongs to J.K and quite rightfully so.**

To say Harry was thankful for the beginning of school was an understatement; after spending the week indoors in case he ran into either Draco, or any of the Weasley's he was going a little stir crazy. The Ministry was safe, at least there any arguments he ended up in, with either Ron or Draco, or even the both of them, would have to be controlled and in sharp whispers instead of raised voices. As of yet, Ron was unaware of what had happened between Harry and Draco; he didn't even know they were attempting to be friends and Harry was dreading telling him, something he would have to do inevitably, especially when Draco started hanging out with the three of them. As terrifying as the situation was to him, with the ominous idea that Ron and Hermione would desert him in disgust, Harry amused himself by thinking up Ron's various reactions, which usually involved him getting gradually higher pitched and red in the face.

It was during one of his first lessons -Potions with Professor Slughorn - that he imagined all the worst, and best, case scenarios that could occur when he finally told Hermione and Ron the truth. So caught up in his head, he failed to notice that Draco had conveniently wormed his way over to Harry's side of the room, just as Professor Slughorn was giving out partners for the year. Having spent half an hour listening to a lecture on the proper brewing of Veritaserum with an absent mind, his brain failed to comprehend what working with Draco would mean. So when Slughorn finally made his way over to the two of them and partnered Draco and Harry together, Harry's feeble protest went unheard, and Slughorn merely began to sweep the room, eyeing the students as they began their potions. After passing Ron and hearing him say

'Sorry mate, good luck with the ferret.' Harry sighed and set his jaw, turning to glare stonily at Draco, who was trying hard to look innocent and hide the smug smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

'So, I'll just reassure you Potter, that the partner work was completely coincidental. Don't get it into your head that I want to work with you or anything.' Having given up the pretence of innocence, Draco was now giving Harry a cocky grin, moving steadily closer to his partner. 'Although, if you think about it, partner-work might not be so bad; hours of time spent working in each others company, in close contact, intimate spaces. Who knows, maybe I could be the perfect stress reliever.' Draco brushed Harry's tense arm with delicate fingertips, 'I'm sure it would be even more fun if some Firewhiskey was involved.' He teased gently, stroking his hand down Harry's arm in a repetitive motion. Harry ignored the faint wave of irritation wash over him, instead choosing to swiftly move his arm from under Draco's grip, and gripping the hand, bending the fingers backwards in a quick movement. Taking advantage of the fact that Draco was briefly distracted by the pain in his hand, he whispered furiously in Draco's face,

'Listen Malfoy, I don't know what sick delusions you're desperately holding on to, but you and I are never going to be anything more than friends. No matter how drunk I get. Now, shut up, and get on with the work, we're getting looks from the class, and Hermione is already halfway through the first stage of brewing.' He released Draco's hand and began to make the potion with a look of forced concentration on his face. Draco looked at Harry with a slightly bemused expression, before shaking himself and smirking in his trademark fashion.

'Hand holding Potter? Anyone would think you were intending to seduce me, and God forbid any rumours like that were to spring up in the Daily Prophet, the Golden Boy couldn't possibly tarnish his reputation associating with me could he?' Draco snapped in a familiar drawl, flicking a wand at the cauldron and filling it with clear water. At the back of Harry's mind, he briefly recognised the return of Draco's old attitude and the renewed use of the irritating drawl he reserved only for people he didn't particularly like. He sighed, knowing that he'd already messed things up within the first five minutes they spent together, and a small voice at the back of his mind, one that wasn't horrified with the carnal actions he'd performed with Draco, told him it would be best if he tried to patch things up between the two of them. He turned back to the Slytherin, who was busy chopping up dead roots in an agitated fashion, his back hunched and his face murderous.

'Look, I'm sorry Draco. I didn't deal with this very well. I don't want to be your enemy again, and I'm happy to be your friend, I just don't want to monumentally fuck things up with a repeat of last weeks events. Can we start over?' Harry asked tentatively, feeling like he was walking on thin ice with the blonde. Draco's grey eyes flickered in Harry's direction, his posture suddenly slumped and he turned in Harry's direction.

'I suppose so.' He said in a clipped tone. 'I don't want to, as you so eloquently put it, _fuck things up_ either. I'll wait and see if you change your mind about the other thing, but I'll stop mentioning it in front of everyone else.' Harry scowled at this, but realised that was probably the best response he was going to get from Draco, especially at this current point.

'Unless of course you do wish to continue our previous activities? I mean, this table should do…' Draco leered at Harry, dodging the cuff to his head Harry aimed at him. 'Kidding, well, slightly.' Harry sighed melodramatically, trying not to smile at the absurdity of Draco Malfoy joking with him, and continued to cut up his roots with a slight weight lifted off his chest.

O.o

'Lunch? With the ferret, are you serious Harry?' Ron blanched, staring at Harry who was standing beside Draco, trying to look casual whilst his best friend went steadily redder in the face. 'Harry you're kidding right? Tell me that's Seamus under Polyjuice Potion.' Harry just remained silent, looking at Hermione in hopes she would quieten the hysteric redhead.

'Polyjuice Potion? What have you Gryffindor's been up to?' Draco asked in amused tone, one eyebrow raised in an elegant arch. 'I apologise Weasley, I am not Finnegan in disguise, frankly no one can imitate this perfectly,' He gestured to his tightly fitting robes and sleek hair, 'and I'm not sure when you would've been able to grab some of my hair. Needless to say, I am joining you for lunch, Potter here invited me, we're attempting a truce of sorts.'

'It's about time,' Hermione muttered under her breath, blushing when Draco gave her a slight glare. She held out her hand, which Draco shook hesitantly, resisting the urge to wipe his hand on his robes straight afterwards, 'Welcome Malfoy, I'm glad some of us have seen sense and decided to end this petty little rivalry.' She glowered at Ron, who was still gaping silently like a goldfish. 'We're heading to a Muggle pub, it's easier on all of us when surrounded by people who don't recognise who we are. Ron and I have a quick errand to do first, so we'll meet you there. Harry knows where we're going; we'll see you in about half an hour.' Hermione then slid her hand into Ron's and pulled him in the direction of the high street, the redhead still blushing and wearing an expression similar to trauma victims.

'Errand? Is that Gryffindor code for sex or something?' Draco asked curiously, watching Ron and Hermione turn the corner. Harry smiled at the suggestion,

'No, it isn't. Ron would probably prefer that, but they're actually off for a dress robes appointment, they're getting married at the end of they year and Hermione's organising everything. Usually Mrs Weasley would do it, but she's struggling a little with everything, so Hermione's making all the appointments.' Harry replied in earnest, skipping over the touchy subject Mrs Weasley's depression. She and George were suffering the most of all the Weasley's, neither of them quite ready to believe Fred was gone permanently. Luckily, Draco didn't say anything more, just nodded slightly and then asked,

'Don't you feel a bit left out? They're moving on with their lives, getting married etc and you're…well, newly single and having one night stands with enemies. Which I suppose for the Golden Boy is a big of a blow.' Harry was taken back at the suggestion, locking his jaw again when Draco mentioned their meeting, something he couldn't mention as nonchalantly as Draco could.

'No, not really; I'm happy for them and I'll still see them. Besides, I have you now do I not, even if they leave me alone, you and I can irritate one another for the time being, can we not?'

Draco nodded at this, 'Irritate would describe our relationship perfectly. Let's just hope we manage to put up with one another in the long term.' Draco said cheerfully, Harry chuckled,

'You make us sound like a married couple. Well, a married couple who drive each other insane.' Draco didn't reply instantly to this, instead looking directly into Harry's face, his stony grey eyes just staring right at him in a slightly unnerving manner.

'You know Harry, if we were married, I wouldn't think that was a bad thing. In fact, I'd consider myself a damn sight luckier than Granger and Weasley. I must remember not to get my hopes up. Now, come on, we've got a lunch to get to, classes start again in an hour. If we're late, I may be reduced to telling people we were having a wonderful shag at my flat and you were having so much fun I was reduced to jinxing you out of bed as an excuse.' Harry, who was slightly stunned by the marriage revelation instantly snapped out of his reverie and began walking in the direction of the high street, Draco tagging along behind him, a characteristic smirk on his face.

O.o

After their first lunch, which didn't end up being an unmitigated disaster, Harry was feeling rather cheerful about how his 8th year was planning out. Hermione and Draco managed to get on rather well, occasionally they argued but the two of them were of similar intellect, and so spent their time discussing books, lessons and revision plans during free periods and lunchtime. Ron however, was another story. Although he kept his distance from Draco and avoided any arguments with the blonde, it was clear to Harry he was unnerved by Draco's presence, and got rather uptight and surly when Harry mentioned him in their conversations. It wasn't however, as Harry found out during one of their chess matches, sitting in the corner of the 'common room' of sorts which was set aside for year eights, as he watched Ron's knight destroy one of his pawns, because of the Malfoy and Weasley rivalry, but for some completely different reason.

'Harry...?' Ron asked cautiously, as Harry surveyed the chess board and carefully planned his next move, ignoring the loud cries of advice from his own pieces and the jeers of Ron's.

'Yes Ron?' He answered, not looking up to see that Ron seemed to be rather nervous about something.

'I want to talk about the Ferret.'

'Please don't call him the Ferret Ron, as much as the nickname amuses me, we're friends now and I don't want to insult him with something as petty as that. Malfoy can sulk for an incredibly long time; it's a nightmare, to upset him.' Harry said, glancing up and looking rather put out by his friends refusal to accept the Slytherin.

"Alright, fine. I want to talk about Malfoy." Ron said sulkily, who moved his Bishop to pulverise Harry's newly moved Knight.

"Very good Ron." Gesturing both at the chess game and at Ron's use of Draco's actual name. "What do you want to say about him?"

"This is going to sound weird, I don't know if you've noticed… but have you seen the way he looks at you?" Ron leaned in; anxious to make sure no one else in the room heard them

"Looks at me? Ron, you're not going to start spouting conspiracy theories are you?" Harry asked incredulously, the chess game abandoned.

"What? No, it's nothing like that. I know Malfoy isn't planning on blowing your head off or anything, it's not even like he wanted to join You-Know-Who, he didn't really get a choice, I know that much. I'm talking about the – the bedroom looks Malfoy gives you when he thinks no-ones looking at you!" Ron spluttered out, turning as red as his hair.

"I'm sorry, bedroom looks? Since when has Malfoy been giving me bedroom looks?" Harry asked dubiously, looking intently at the tomato-faced Ron.

"You know…come hither looks. The kind you send to someone when it's clear they want to screw you! The ones you get from all those love-sick witches down on the reception. Those sorts of looks, it's clear he wants you." Ron said all of this in a slight garble, blowing out all his breath and then returning to blushing furiously, avoiding Harry's gaze.

"Wants me? Don't be silly." Harry's voice was slightly strained, something Ron put down to surprise or horror rather than panic; Harry suddenly felt rather hot, his stomach churning, _Ron couldn't find out, _he thought furiously.

"I'm not, Hermione agrees, he's always giving you these weird looks. Look, I just wanted to warn you, I know you're…on that side of the Quidditch pitch now, but you know, I can't see even you sinking as low as that slimy snake."

"Ron! Stop insulting him, and don't mention that. He's really not that bad, look, he didn't have to be nice to you and he hasn't said a thing against his family, so stop trying to freak me out and turn me against him!" Harry half-shrieked, attracting the attention of Seamus and Dean who were in the corner of the room having a low-voiced conversation of their own, they glanced at him before quickly averting their gaze when they realised this was probably an argument that Harry didn't want them listening in on.

"Harry, I'm not….look, I know he's not as bad as he used to be, but in case you'd forgotten, he poisoned me, he tried to use an Unforgivable on you! Not to mention all the stuff he did when he was in You-Know-Who's little hunting pack; I just can't understand why you're so happy to forget all that and play his new best friend – I know I sound a bit like a jealous prick, but really, I just don't want you to get hurt. I didn't react very well to your break-up with Ginny, but I just want to let you know I'm still looking out for you. Just do me a favour, and try to stay out his bed, no matter if you're tempted or not, he's no good." Harry nodded at Ron's words, his heart lodging in his throat, feeling intensely guilty at lying to Ron, but not ready to spill his secrets, especially in light of Ron's intolerance to Draco.

"I'll try Ron, he's not all that, I can resist his Slytherin charm I think. Although, now you mention it, he does have a rather dashing figure, I wouldn't mind taking that to bed, I wonder whether he likes it –"

"- Harry!" Ron interjected, scowling at the smile on Harry's face,

"Oh sorry Ron, I forgot you were there, I was just fantasising about the wonderful Draco! How he looks when he smiles, how his aristocratic drawl makes me feel weak at the knees!" Harry pretended to swoon, and laughed when Ron punched him in the arm, scowl still present.

"Shut up you git, any more rubbish like that and I might end up thinking you do like him!" Ron said, half joking. His words instantly shut Harry up, and Harry's smile faded from his face, he coughed slightly.

_Because Merlin forbid I could like the man. _He thought sadly, hanging his head and looking back at the chess pieces, his head in turmoil, as he realised, just possibly, that he might actually like the blonde git more than he would care to admit. Moving his Queen towards Ron's unprotected King, he said,  
"Checkmate." As he watched forlornly as the King was obliterated by the Queen's vicious sword, the wooden pieces shattering across the table and pulling themselves magically towards the edge of the board. Harry heart was heavy in his throat, and he couldn't help thinking, that it felt slightly more like he'd been caught much like the King by his key player, the White Queen, Draco himself.

O.o

"So basically, in principle, the difference between powdered lacewings and distilled lacewings is that powdered lacewings change the consistency of the potion to a drier quality, meaning that it has a slower effect on the person drinking it. In potions, it is advised to use distilled lacewings. Am I right?" Draco asked Harry, who was staring at the blondes mouth and admiring the soft skin covering them, remembering how it felt to kiss those lips, and not listening to a word he was saying; unfortunately, this had become commonplace over the past few weeks, ever since Ron had insinuated that Draco still liked him, Harry had been unable to get him out of his head, and now he spent most of his time with Draco admiring the blonde's striking features.

"Harry!" Draco waved a hand in front of Harry's face, and Harry instantly tore his gaze from Draco's mouth and up to his eyes, "You're drooling." Harry hastily wiped the side of his mouth, to find there was nothing there, "I was joking, but at least now I know you're paying attention. Did you listen to any of my answer?" Draco asked, irritation clear in his voice; Harry's mouth opened and closed silently, as he tried to remember anything Draco said.

"…Um, yes?" Harry questioned timidly, hoping that Draco wouldn't suddenly storm off in a huff like he was prone to do when Harry wasn't paying the utmost attention to him.

"Oh really Potter? Then what did I say?" Draco asked waspishly, clearly knowing he'd caught Harry out.

"It had something to do with lacewings…right?" Harry replied warily, wincing when Draco whacked him on the head with his potions textbook.

"Potter! I know you don't seem particularly interested in revising, but some of us need to otherwise we're going to end up working in the Leaky Cauldron, so please, pay attention and test me on Potions!" Draco snapped, opening the book again to the page he needed and handing it to a slightly stunned Harry.

"Right, the main difference between powdered lacewings and distilled lacewings is the different effect they have on the consistency of the potion. Powdered lacewings give the potion a drier quality, which slows the affect the potion has on the drinker; most potion makers advise the use of distilled lacewings, especially in medical potions such as healing salves. Am I right?" Draco deadpanned in a bored tone, clearly reciting from memory; Harry quickly scanned the page and found that Draco's answer was indeed correct and more detailed than the one in the book.

"Correct, completely, well done. Now, please can we take a break from revising? I'm so bored of it now, and you already know everything perfectly. Besides, exams are in a month, you still have plenty of time, enough time to revise everything three times over. Now please can we do something other than revising?" Harry pleaded, shutting the large book shut so as to enforce his point. Draco glared at him,

"Fine, do you have any suggestions then Harry? I have a few ideas that you'd probably turn down, but they're definitely a change from revision, in fact, we could do several of them here using this table." Draco smiled coyly, hoping for Harry's classic reaction of turning red and spluttering when he mentioned anything remotely sexual; he wasn't disappointed, Harry instantly blushed, coughed and stuttered out a, "Draco, something serious!" much to Draco's satisfaction. Harry however, was horrified to find that his imagination had gone into overdrive and was spouting out random images of him bent over the table, Draco thrusting into him from behind, something which was actually sending waves of heat towards his groin. Groaning internally, he willed his erection to go away, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

"So, if that's off the cards, do you have any other ideas?" Draco asked, smirking victoriously, unaware of Harry's inner turmoil.

"We could play Quidditch?" Harry suggested weakly, he then regretted it as he imagined Draco in tight-fitting Quidditch robes and his erection returned with a vengeance.

"Right, because we can definitely play Quidditch with no brooms and no pitch." Draco drawled sarcastically, "That was a stupid suggestion Potter, perhaps you should think through your answers before you say them. Now, either think of something we can actually do, or we go back to revision." Harry was incredibly tempted to go along with Draco's suggestion and allow him to screw him against the table, but after remembering he hadn't actually outed himself publicly and so a sudden display of sex probably wouldn't be something that the remaining year eights took particularly well.

"All right fine, we'll do more revision. Merlin knows I need help anyway, just try not to be too scathing when I get the answers wrong." Harry said, resigned to his fate, but still smiling. Truth be told, Draco made good company, no matter what they were doing, so Harry didn't actually mind spending more time with him. He just wanted to discuss something other than school, which had become their main topic of conversation as exams loomed. Actually, more than anything, he wanted to tell Draco how he felt. The only problem was he was quickly running out of time.

O.o

Harry spent the next few weeks in constant contact with Draco, whether they were revising, having lunch, or spending time with each other outside of school, they were always in one another's company. This was fine to begin with, but as the stress of exams took its toll on Harry, he began to pick fights with Draco time and time again; both irritation and sexual tension caused Harry to lash out at the blonde, and still Draco stood by him and helped him with the exams. Harry became acutely aware that they only had a week until exams, and after that only another month before he and Draco finished their education. Knowing he had feelings for Draco, he was unsure as to whether to act upon them or not, it was one thing to imagine a relationship with Draco, and another to actually begin one. He was still straight in the eyes of the wizarding world, and although Draco had told him multiple times that most witches and wizards didn't have any problem with gay wizards, he knew that most people would change their view of him depending on his sexuality, which was why he was so reluctant to even consider going after Draco. There was also the little voice at the back of his head which made snide little comments about his feelings and undermined them, refusing to seriously believe he liked Draco as much as he wanted to think; this voice time and time again stopped him from pursuing a relationship with Draco. It was only when he and Draco discussed Draco's date the previous night with an intern from one of the ministry offices that Harry realised he would be in incredibly pain if he saw Draco fall in love with someone else and abandon him. He'd refused to accept that he felt left behind by Hermione and Ron's relationship, but to tell the truth, he was incredibly lonely now that the two of them were off planning their future together. Losing Draco would hurt just as much, and Harry wasn't prepared for that to happen, but he wasn't prepared for a relationship, which left him where exactly?

O.o

"You're not getting it Harry." Draco grumbled, twirling his wand in his hands slowly,

"Look Draco, I don't need you to tell me whether I'm getting it or not. I can see for myself that I'm not doing the spell correctly, perhaps because it doesn't seem to be doing what I want it to do." Harry snapped heatedly, waving his wand in a swift motion and whispering the incantation to the…curse inside his head. Nothing happened to Draco, who remained standing and unharmed a few metres away from Harry, a defeated expression on his tired face.

"Harry, come on, admit it non-verbal spells are just clearly not your thing. Besides, we've been working at this for hours, you haven't eaten, and I know you've barely slept since Monday. Take a break." Draco said, approaching Harry slowly.

"No! I don't need food right now, I told you, I'm not hungry and I'm not tired. I need to get this right! I can't fail, not now…I don't see why some non-verbal spells are so easy but I can't get this one right!" Harry said slightly hysterically, his hand clenched on his wand, preparing to perform the spell again.

"Harry, I mean it, look, I know with the exams coming up things are a little stressful, but it's gone midnight, you look exhausted, I know you feel like crap, and frankly you look awful too." Draco said earnestly, trying to put Harry's wand arm down and get the brunet to sit down and realise he needed to take a break. Harry batted him away impatiently,

"Not now Draco! Come on, just a few more practices…please?" Harry pleaded, "I know I can get it right, I just need a few more goes." He brought his wand up and repeated the same swift, complicated motion and still nothing happened. Harry screamed and Draco winced at the noise which grated on his ears like nails down a chalkboard.

"Harry! Look at me; _you need to take a break. _We can work on this tomorrow, but you need sleep. Come on, I'll apparate you home." Draco took a grasp on Harry's wrist, which Harry pulled out of the grip instantly.

"That's easy for you to say _Draco_; you can do the bloody spell." Harry grumbled darkly, before turning and saying in a whiny tone, "Why won't you help me out here? I stuck with all your revision sessions, and you can't even help me out with one little spell. And you call yourself my friend." Harry snorted at the idea, unaware of the hurt expression on Draco's face.

"Alright Potter, I've tried to be nice. Stop messing about and acting like a child, we're going home." Draco pulled Harry along to the exit of the Ministry roughly, the brunet struggling and swearing at him. Draco eventually was caught by a flying fist and knocked in the jaw. As his teeth clashed together, his vision turned red and he slammed Harry against the wall of the wall of the Ministry reception.

"Oh playing rough now are we Draco? What happened, I thought you were the caring lover?" Harry mocked, his head pounding from the smash to the wall.

"What the hell is your problem? I'm trying to help you out here Harry, I know you're frustrated, but it's extremely unlikely that you will manage any of the non-verbal spells when you're practically half dead with fatigue and hunger, I've told you this, you and I both know it's the truth!" Draco snapped rather loudly, pressing Harry closer to the wall,

"Trying to help me? Is that what you call it?" Harry laughed humourlessly, "You're the bloody reason I can't concentrate! Does that make you happy Draco, knowing you got to me finally?" Draco's face turned concerned,

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked curiously, his grip on Harry loosening slightly, causing Harry to squirm in his grip even though it seemed that he had resigned himself to defeat.

"You know exactly what it means Draco." Harry said wearily, shaking his head,

"No, Potter, I really don't. What do you mean I 'Got to you'?" Draco asked confusion clear on his face. Harry gave another mirthless laugh, the slightly hysterical sound sounding wrong coming out of Harry's mouth.

"Honestly Draco, think about it, you've spent all these months making little comments about our meeting and what happened, isn't it obvious?" Harry exclaimed, "I like you. More than like you actually, and you know it, you've been giving me these little looks and signals for ages, just waiting for me to respond. So, are you happy now, you got inside my head and messed everything up. I can't stop thinking about you, I can't think about the exams without you popping up and distracting me. You're always there, and it's driving me mad!"

Draco was truly surprised, he'd realised he was actually quite infatuated with Harry long ago, but he hadn't expected the other boy to ever return his feelings, he'd set himself for the painful road of unrequited love. Happiness blossomed in his chest as he realised, finally, he was getting something he wanted; after years of struggling to get by, fighting with his parents, his decisions, fighting with things he could never change, finally he was allowed to get something he truly wanted.

"Harry…" Draco released Harry from his tight grip, moving one hand onto Harry's waist the other gently stroking his collarbone gently. Harry relaxed slightly into Draco's embrace, "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. I am sorry you're under stress, and I am sorry I've caused you some problems, but as I said, I can be the perfect stress reliever. Let me help you." He leaned in incredibly close, close enough that his breath tickled Harry's face and Harry could count every one of Draco's eyelashes; much like before, he became entranced by the liquid mercury of Draco's eyes, and without thinking, he quietly whispered,

"Go ahead." And then Draco tensed, and Harry felt like he was being squeezed through a tube as he realised that Draco had apparated them straight into his flat. Unlike last time, there was no pause, no hesitation, Harry allowed himself to be pulled into a passionate kiss, Draco's lips pressed intensely against his own as they reclaimed Harry's mouth after nearly a years absence. Harry had to admit, it was a mistake to starve himself of Draco's presence for so long. It felt…_right_ to be kissing Draco, to be held in Draco's arms, to feel Draco bite down his neck and suckle on his collarbone. Little bolts of electricity ran between their bodies, and the fire in Harry's stomach built as Draco's hands quickly moved under his shirt and started stroking the reactive skin of his nipples. Harry, who was impatient and wanted more, quickly undid Draco's belt, his hands pulling away at the leather. Once undone, he plunged his hand into Draco's silk boxers, stroking the hard flesh which was struggling to escape its confines and running his nail over the tip. Draco shuddered and moaned appreciatively, jutting his hips forward into Harry's hand, his pale face flushed and his eyes closed. Harry took back Draco's mouth, biting gently at the soft skin and swirling his tongue against Draco's, enjoying Draco's unique taste and the feeling of another warm body pressed up against him.

Harry squeezed Draco in his fist and suddenly he found himself on the carpeted floor, Draco lying on top of him, wrenching his trousers down to his knees and pulling Harry's down at the same time. Neither of them took time to admire one another, Draco assuming they had more time for a leisurely love-making session later, and Harry because he was too wrapped up in his own lust to care whether Draco was naked or not, only that he needed a release, and Draco needed to give him one soon. Draco quickly pulled his wand from his trouser pockets, muttering the charms which would make this easier on the two of them, and coated his fingers in saliva and the lubricant within Harry. Harry knew how it would feel this time, and so made himself relax, allowing Draco to quickly fit two fingers inside him and begin to stretch Harry out slowly, kissing Harry softly on the stomach as a means of apologising for the pain. Curling his fingers, he gently brushed against Harry's prostate, making Harry jerk and spasm on the floor. Draco added another finger, stretching and filling Harry as quickly as he could, his own neglected cock throbbing painfully in anticipation. Eventually, he retracted his fingers and propped Harry's ankles on his shoulders. He positioned himself at Harry's stretched entrance, pushing his tip in slowly. Hot warmth surrounded him and he groaned throatily, forgetting for a brief moment to hold back and pushing in before Harry had given him permission to.

"Draco," Harry hissed, pain prominent at the bottom of his spine, "Give me a moment," Draco stopped, realising his mistake, and kissed Harry softly on the lips in way of an apology. After a brief pause, Harry nodded and Draco pushed forwards, into the heat of Harry's body, the tightness of his muscles pulsing around him. Harry moaned, slightly from pain and from the wonderful feeling of being filled so wholly. Draco pulled out, Harry's muscles retracting around him and pressing on his erection almost uncomfortably, and pushed back in hard, Harry's enlarged member brushing against his stomach and twitching slightly as Draco pulled out and slammed back in once again, this time just brushing Harry's prostate with his tip.

"Urgh…harder Draco…nnh, please." Harry barely choked out through choked breaths and moans; Draco obliged to his demands and slammed back into him, this time Harry's hips thrusting against his own in accordance. Draco kept pushing into him, each thrust harder than the previous one; all pretences abandoned, the two of them completely forgot there was any love in their relationship and settled for hard fucking, Draco mercilessly pounding into Harry whilst Harry returned each thrust with a movement of his hips. Eventually, after what felt like several torturous hours, Draco, who balanced Harry against the thick carpet, wrapped a hand around his cock and pumped at him, Harry's inner muscles tightening around him as he did so. They came together, Harry's own voice hoarse from shouting Draco's name and Draco silent, panting from exertion. Draco kissed Harry sweetly on the lips, a soft smile on his face, his hair covering his eyes and forehead. Lying there on the carpet, a thin sheen of sweat covering their naked skin, they were content, wrapped up in each others arms like typical lovers. Draco eventually grabbed a blanket from beside the sofa and covered them with it, entwining their hands still, so as to keep Harry with him this time, hoping he wouldn't desert him in fear like he did the year previous. Harry, for once, was not panicking, was not worrying about what everyone else would think, he was completely unconcerned with the outside world, nothing mattered other than him and Draco; lying there on the floor of Draco's flat, hands linked, there was nothing to destroy their perfect little world, no person or thing or event that could ruin the peace he had there. Nothing that is, except a knock on the window from Pigwidgeon, which spelled disaster clearer than any Dark Mark.

O.o

"Don't answer it." Draco pleaded to Harry, gripping his hand tighter, not ready to leave this little idyllic moment between the two of them behind, "Harry come on, it's probably just Weasley asking you where you are. Just leave it." But Harry still stood up, the sheet falling in a pool around his feet and turned to the window. Pigwidgeon flew in, his usual excitable nature missing, instead of fluttering around the room like he normally would he merely held still and allowed Harry to remove the letter from his leg. Harry already worried as to what would merit a sudden call from Ron's owl, and became even more concerned when he noticed the change in the owl's usual temperament. Taking the letter from the bird's leg, he uncurled the badly tied letter and read the messy scribble across the parchment. Worry crossed his features, and he quickly turned around and tried to find him wand. Summoning his clothes, Harry quickly pulled on his trousers and shirt, before hastily scrawling a reply on some parchment he pulled from his pocket and attaching it to Pigwidgeon. Draco watched all this silently, waiting for an explanation from Harry as to what the letter said and as to why he suddenly had to pull his clothes on and leave Draco's side. When he received none, he asked coldly,

"Are you going to give me an explanation?" Harry looked quickly up at him as he did up his shirt buttons, not expecting to manage doing them up with his wand; he flashed Draco a strained grin.

"Look Draco, something has come up. I – look, I'm needed more elsewhere; I'm sorry, I wish I could stay here, but I have to go." Draco's face turned stony at this revelation, the stirrings of jealousy beginning in his stomach.

"Needed somewhere else?" He repeated blankly, "Something has come up? For fuck's sake Harry, something's always going to be up._ Stay here_." He said forcefully, standing up and pulling the sheet around his waist, moving forward and going as far as holding Harry's wrist in a firm grip.

"Draco let go, I can't take you with me. I'm sorry, I've got to go." Draco's grip tightened,

"No, Harry, you don't get to disappear again and put us right back to square one. You're going to stay here,

for once; we're going to talk about this. About us!" aHaHarry frowned, making his lips purse and a dark look cross into his eyes.

"There is no us Draco, you said it yourself; this was all relieving stress. A pity fuck, that's all it was." Harry hissed, sounding dangerously angry; he realised, and his features softened slightly. "Draco, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lead you on. I've got to go. Please release my wrist."

"You don't have to go anywhere Potter; do you actually have some life threatening reason to leave? Or is this an elaborate ruse to get you out of my presence?"

"For once Draco, this isn't all about you. I have somewhere to be. I'll see you around." Harry tugged his arm out of Draco's lax hold and tightened the grip on his wand.

"Don't…Harry please don't. Not again, I've spent a year trying to get you back, and besides tomorrow you'll pretend it never happened and I'll have to start all over again." Draco begged desperately,

"Draco, I'm not some prize for you to win. We don't have anything, we're not together, and you're right about tomorrow, it will be as if nothing has changed. That's just how it is…" He tailed off, looking away from Draco's pained face. "Be seeing you, exams on Monday, good luck." Draco looked away, the taste of bitterness strong in his mouth; he heard a brief crack and looked up to see Harry had disappeared.

"I love you, idiot, and if anything, I think you do too. That's what we have together." Draco sighed, his chest hurting from some unknown injury. He sat back on the sofa, breathing heavily, brushing his face with his hand, clutching the sheet tighter around his waist. Eventually though, he did what was usually frowned upon by any Malfoy.

He cried.

O.o

"Gin, oh Ginny I'm sorry." Pulling the sobbing girl into his arm, he allowed her to bury her head against his chest and cry openly. Beside him stood a pale Ron, his hand clutching tightly at Hermione's, trying to take some comfort from her contact but still visibly shaking in shock. Through the room next to them, a sickly looking George was lying on a bed, bandages covering his chest and a blood stained hospital gown covering his emaciated body; beside him stood a concerned Mr Weasley stroking the head of a blank-faced Mrs Weasley.

Harry's palms began to sweat and his stomach churned as he stood in the familiar white corridors of St Mungo's, a place even he had spent a week or so in, coping with trauma, and battle scars and helping to care for those who hadn't been as fortunate as he had in recovering. He thought he was over this now, all the worrying and the crying and the mourning – he thought it was all over, and they moved on, brushing away the cobwebs of the past and embracing the light. He thought George was at least coping with the death of Fred better more than it turned out he had been. A Dark Arts curse to the chest in an attempt to rip out his heart didn't really show that George was coping, was okay, was surviving. He was only alive because Ginny had burst into the room and deflected the curse, stopping him from severing the arteries that led to his heart and instead caused extensive damage to the ribs and the skin and muscle around his heart, which had ripped and torn, splashing blood all over Ginny as well as George. Although, Harry thought morbidly, a minute, a second later, and George would be lying in the morgue and not on the hospital bed. Chances like that weren't meant to be taken; it was all too close to the bone in Harry's opinion.

He realised, now that Ginny had finally stopped crying, her tearstained face tinged pink with the blood splatters which had combined with the salty tears in rivulets down her face. Her bright hair was messy, matted on her head, and her skin was hot to his touch; he stroked her forehead, waiting for her to stop shuddering as she took in deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Eventually, the shudders desisted, and Ginny calmed herself. Standing beside Harry, her hand linked with his, she looked a little lost, as if unsure what to do now she was managing to control herself. They stood together, Hermione and Ron beside them, worry almost tangible in the air around them. An hour went by, another, and another, and then eventually, after what felt like the longest wait of Harry's life one of the Mediwizards came out looking harried but not necessarily apologetic.

"You're George Weasley's family I assume?" The Mediwizard said, glancing at the red hair on Ron and Ginny and then briefly at Harry's scar. "His mother and father are still in the room. Good news, he'll be fine. Quite a nasty curse he tried on himself, but it was intercepted so it was a lot less powerful in the end. He's lucky, it really looked like he wanted to kill himself. Miss Weasley, he should thank you for that one day, a second later…anyway – you're free to go home now. We'll keep you updated, and I'm sure you'll receive news from Mr and Mrs Weasley soon." The Mediwizard nodded at them, then took his leave and walked off down the corridor and out of sight.

"We're going to stay around I think Harry, Hermione and I will probably go and grab a cup of tea in the café." Ron said, looking a lot more relieved than he had done minutes previous.

"Okay, we'll see you back at the Burrow, I'm gonna take Ginny home. I don't think she's in a fit state to Apparate home on her own." Harry tightened his arm around Ginny, "Come on, let's get you home." After saying a quiet good-bye to his friends, he led Ginny out of the doors of St Mungo's and apparated into the warm summer air.

O.o

Harry ushered Ginny inside, and instantly sat her down on the drooping sofa in the living room; Ginny had not spoken once since she'd screamed after finding George in his room and instantly rushed for help, but she thanked him quietly, still holding onto his hand like a life-line.

"I think there's some Firewhiskey in the cupboard next to the sink Harry, grab it and a glass please." Ginny said very quietly, the words just barely louder than her own breathing.

"Ginny, I really don't – " Harry tried to persuade her off it,

" – If you won't get it, I'll go over there and get it myself Harry. I want a drink…no, I need a drink. I just saw my brother try and curse himself to pieces Harry, I need to forget. So, pour me a drink _please." _ Ginny snapped, her brown eyes flashing as she made to stand and push past the concerned looking Harry.

"I'll get it…sorry Gin." Harry walked over to the cupboard and grabbed the almost full bottle of alcohol, and two glasses from the draining board. Pouring out a liberal amount, he handed the glass to Ginny, who downed it in one and held out the glass for more. Harry poured her another regretfully, and she nursed this one for slightly longer. Grabbing one of the wooden chairs from the dining table, he perched himself in front of her, and watched the shock slowly drain from her face, replaced by a blank expression and glazed eyes.

O.o

An hour later or so, and Ginny was royally pissed. The bottle was nearly completely empty, and Harry was still completely sober. He had since moved from the stool in front of Ginny to the sofa, where Ginny had been inching steadily closer and was now playing with his hair in what she supposed was an inconspicuous fashion.

"Pour me another drink H-Harry." Ginny slurred slightly, reaching out for the bottle, which Harry pulled slightly out of her reach.

"Gin, I really think you've had enough." Ginny's eyes flashed once again, and she growled,

"Oh really Harry…you think I've had enough. _Well who cares what you think? _Pour me another glass." She ordered him venomously. Harry handed her the bottle instead and she took a hefty gulp from it, leaving only a small dribble left. Ginny moved closer to Harry, gripping his shirt in her small hands,

"You're so good to me Harry, taking care of me, cheering me up. I have missed you these few months. That silly fight we had, I can't even think what it was about." Ginny's mouth was only inches away from Harry's now and he was trying to back away but Ginny had pressed him into the corner of the sofa and he had no place to go. "It doesn't really matter now, because you're here, and I've missed you_ ever so much." _Ginny leaned in closer and pressed her lips to Harry's throat. Harry panicked, unsure what to do and pushed Ginny away roughly, standing up out of range of the inebriated red-head. 

"What's the matter Harry, I thought you liked me?" Ginny said in a hurt tone, now standing unsteadily and making her way over to Harry. Harry, who hadn't the heart to push her away again, kept moving backwards away from the prowling girl, until once again, he found himself against a wall. Dodging out of the way, he tripped on the chair leg of the wooden chair, and fell flat on his behind. Wincing terribly, he was reminded exactly of the things he had been doing just hours ago, and he climbed up, ignoring the sharp twinge of pain in his back.

"Harry, stay still, I can hardly kiss you if you keep moving away." Ginny whined, lunging forward and gripping Harry's arm in a surprisingly tight grasp. She puckered her lips and went straight for Harry's mouth, kissing him sloppily, another hand curled tightly in his hair, keeping him there against her. Harry tried to pull away, and he just gripped his hair tighter, ripping several strands from his scalp. Ginny frowned, detaching herself from his face, "Harry, why are you struggling? Stop it!" She shook him and a few more strands of hair fell out; seeing that Harry was momentarily dazed, she began kissing him again. When he still didn't respond, she shoved him a little. "Harry, move your mouth, I'm trying to kiss you!" She shouted impatiently,

"I am fully aware of that Ginny! And I'm not going to move my mouth, because I don't want to kiss you!" Harry snapped back readily, quickly moving when Ginny's grip on his hair relaxed.

"You don't?" Ginny asked hesitantly,

"No Gin, I really don't." Harry replied earnestly,

"I remember why we broke up now." Ginny said coldly, instantly moving away from Harry,

"Gin…"

"Ron told me you're friends with Draco Malfoy; do you share his bed too Harry? Is that why you won't kiss me back?"

"Ginny! That's not – Look, I didn't kiss you because you're still in shock, George is in hospital! You're completely drunk; I can't kiss you when you're so out of it." Harry stammered, but Ginny noticed his slight hesitation,

"So that's why you won't kiss me then. Not because you've been fucking men, but because I'm so drunk." Ginny said cynically, laughing at the earnest expression on Harry's face, knowing he was lying through his teeth even in her inebriated state.

"I told you Gin, I'm here to help." He held out his hands, trying to look sincere.

"Then you can help by leaving, you've been here enough, you know where the door is."

"Ginny…"

Harry reached out to touch her, but Ginny flinched away, "Don't touch me! I don't want your hands on me; god knows where they've been."

"Gin, you've got it all wrong, I'm here to help you, come on, I don't want us to fight." Harry pleaded desperately,

"Don't make me hex you Harry, I said get out. _So go" _Ginny said through gritted teeth 

"Ginny please…I'm sorry I pushed you away, it has nothing to do with Draco, I promise."

"Can you say that straight to me, look me deep in the eyes and tell me you feel nothing for Draco Malfoy? That you've never even considered going after him?" Ginny asked quietly, looking directly at Harry, who diverted his eyes. Ginny laughed mirthlessly, "Did you ever love me Harry? Or were you just hoping you would do one day?" Harry remained silent,

"Sorry Ginny. I really am." Ginny looked at Harry, the anger fading from her face, knowing it wasn't his fault. It wasn't hers either, but it felt like it.

"I think we all are, there's nothing to change the past though. Do me a favour though Harry, don't ruin it with him too. I'm not saying you deserve love, but we all need it. We're still fixing things; George is still trying to deal with Fred…perhaps you need your own coping mechanism. You seemed happier. Ron thought you were too." Ginny said wistfully, Harry stared at her for a minute, nodded and then walked out of the door without another word.

O.o

Upon arriving at Grimmauld Place, sitting down heavily in one of the dining room chairs, Harry finally allowed Ginny's words to sink in. He hadn't really thought about Draco the entire time he'd been at St Mungo's, but he realised now that the blonde would not be happy with him, especially since he ran out on him post-coitus. It was far too late for him to fire-call Draco, and although a letter probably wouldn't be appreciated, Harry thought that was the only decent form of communication he could use. Grabbing a roll of parchment from one of the kitchen drawers, he Summoned his quill and some ink and began to write Draco a letter explaining why he'd done what he had.

_Dear Draco, _

_I realise you're probably not very happy with me, and I know I should be sorry, but I had to leave for a good reason. Ron sent me a letter telling me George was in St Mungo's – he attempted suicide – andl I've been a part of their family for years now, so George is like a brother to me. I had to go see him, in case the Mediwizards couldn't do anything to help him. You understand don't you? Family means a lot to you Malfoy's; surely, you can see why I had to leave? I am sorry, for running out, and for what we did; and what I said. I didn't mean it, caught up in the moment and all that. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Please, let me know we're okay._

_Yours, _

_Harry_

Satisfied, Harry put down the quill and rolled up the parchment, whistling for his new owl Icarus who flew down and offered up his leg without a sound. Addressing the parchment to Draco with a flourish, he sent the owl off and waited. An hour passed, another and another, and then Harry was dozing in his chair, just as the early rays of sun poured in through the window next to the cooker. Eventually, a sharp tapping woke Harry from his slumber, and he let in Icarus from the window. Feeding him some of the fat rinds from a plate on the windowsill, he checked for a letter on the owl's leg, but couldn't find one. Confused, Harry looked at the bird, who stared up at him with baleful eyes.

"No reply? Did he get the letter?" Icarus nipped his finger affectionately, telling Harry that Draco had received the letter, but clearly didn't want to talk to Harry. "Positive you didn't lose the letter on the way home?" Icarus glared at Harry and nipped his finger sharply, reprimanding Harry for thinking that it was a fault on his front. "Sorry boy, I didn't mean to insult you. I'll just wait, Draco can't be that mad; he'll calm down and reply soon, I'm sure of it."

O.o

Harry waited hours for Draco to reply, and feeling a little bit like a Muggle girl waiting for a phone call, he sat by the window all day waiting for a bird to fly in and drop a letter down on the kitchen table. No such letter arrived, and Harry was feeling rather dejected, exhausted and fed up by now. Waiting at the chair until his eyes were drooping and ringed with red from fatigue, he made his way upstairs and dropped on the bed; his head buried on the pillow, he fell into a troubled sleep, reliving the fight he and Draco had before he'd left. Waking up feeling more tired than he had before he went to bed, he dragged himself into the shower and washed and dressed inattentively, downing several mugs of tea in a vain effort to wake up. Grabbing his bag full of quills, he stepped out the front door, and apparated to the Ministry of Magic entrance. He spotted Draco as soon as he entered the Atrium, waving to him in greeting, but the blonde refused to acknowledge him, and Harry then realised exactly how much of a mistake leaving Draco had been.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all your reviews, story alerts and favourites. The epilogue is half way down, and so this is the final chapter. **

**Disclaimer: JK owns, not me.**

Ron and Hermione had also noticed the sudden disappearance of Draco from their midst. They didn't mention it to Harry, but he could see them both giving him a pitiful look out of the corner of his eye when Draco walked right past him without a word of greeting. The only time Draco actually said a single thing to him was when Harry had bumped into him and Draco had snapped back with one of his classic retorts, telling Harry to "look where he's going, because he'll still curse the Golden Boy, no matter how important he may be", Harry had gaped intending to say something back but Draco had walked off down the corridor before he'd even had the chance.

A week of silence, lonely lunches and pitiful glances from Ron and Hermione as they left Harry to sit alone in the 8th year "common room" passed without comment, and Draco still continued to ignore Harry unless he felt like being particularly malicious and insult him. Harry was at the end of his tether, through both the stress of revising for his Defence theory paper which was proving difficult and because of his suffering health. Since Draco had stopped talking to Harry, he'd had trouble sleeping and eating, and most mornings he forgot to do anything but pick up his parchment and start to make notes. It was a good distraction for a while, but after a few hours he began to allow his mind to wander and then he began to miss Draco's presence, because he'd been a good revision partner, always willing to help Harry practice. Time passed even more quickly and Harry suddenly realised it was the morning of his final exam, at the end of the day Draco would no longer have to remain at school, well at the Ministry, he was free to go home and leave Harry behind. Harry went into the exam in a slightly dazed state, answering all his questions with as much detail as he could whilst sneaking glances at the blonde boy who was sitting just a few metres away from him. As soon as the examiners picked up their papers, a sudden breath whooshed out of every student and they all started to smile broadly. Harry watched as Draco walked out the room, and he instantly rushed to follow him. Draco noticed Harry out of the corner of his eye and increased his walking pace, just as Harry did. Heading towards the Atrium Floo exits, Harry became desperate and called out Draco's name loudly.

"Draco, wait. For the love of Merlin, stop walking away from me." Harry shouted snappily, as Draco turned around to face Harry, a single elegant eyebrow raised in question.

"Now Potter, I don't know why you're complaining, you spend most of your time trying to avoid my presence anyway." Draco smiled, a feral hint to the superficial grin, Harry scowled at Draco's statement.

"Oh really, stop being so childish, you're acting like a spoilt little brat. I left you for a few hours, I told you why, and I sent you a letter. I've apologised for something I didn't even do wrong!"

"I am the one acting like a selfish brat? You're just an innocent victim? I'm not the one playing with people's emotions like they are nothing but your own puppets; if it's not me you're messing about with, it's the Weasley girl. You spend months being with me, we sleep together, not once, but twice, and when I'm finally ready to tell you I think I love you, you tell me we have nothing together and that our relationship wasn't important. Yet here you are, wanting to be my friend again because you think a stupid fucking letter is going to make everything okay, and I'm the selfish one? I'm the one doing exactly what you asked me to do!"

"I didn't ask you to avoid me; all I wanted was for us to go to back to normal."

"This is normal for us Potter, do you not recall. We hate each other. This relationship business has just been you lying to yourself because you're lonely; all I'm doing is restoring the natural order of things."

"You just said you're in love with me! We're friends, I'm not kidding myself, we're friends…" Harry said desperately, ignoring the group of people who were edging closer to him and Draco.

"We're not friends Potter, we're not anything. You're just a nice distraction, and I regret wasting my time loving you. I am glad you showed your true colours, because I may have continued doing so had you not. Enjoy your life; I shall, since now it doesn't have you in it." Draco whirled on his heels and used the apparition point to leave the Ministry with a loud crack, not even giving a backwards glance to Harry who was still standing there, wondering what on earth he should do next.

O.o

"To tell the truth Harry, I think you're being a bit of a prat." Ron said matter-of-factly, sitting next to Harry at the kitchen table as Harry stared morosely at the ring in the wood, "Exams finished weeks ago, and I haven't seen you since. We're meant to be celebrating, but all you do is mope in the house." Harry glared at Ron; he wasn't moping, he was...relaxing. Just because exams had finished didn't mean he instantly had to get drunk, or go out to some wizarding clubs. It was pointless in his opinion, what was there to actually celebrate? There were no more exams, school had finished and now he actually had to act like a proper young adult and go out and get a job, had to be adult, and had to be serious. It was more depressing than liberating in his opinion; as a child, he'd never really had the chance to act like one, and now he had the time, Ron was telling him to grow up.  
"I'm not moping Ron, Merlin, you make it seem like I'm a sulking child." Harry snapped waspishly, putting on his defensive face, as if warning Ron that he was ready to fight Ron should Ron decide to.  
"Really? So you're not sulking over the fact that Malfoy hasn't spoken to you in weeks, or that Hermione and I haven't been round to spend all our free time with you because we're getting married soon? Face it Harry, you are moping."  
"I'm not sulking over Malfoy, he doesn't have anything to do with this, and I'm sorry, have I complained about the two of you getting married once, no! I don't think I have? Stop accusing me of things I haven't said, I'm not moping, I'm just having a break. I'm allowed a break aren't I? Merlin, I've spent the last 7 years fighting Voldemort, and now you're telling me that I can't relax for a little while?"  
"Harry, in case you've forgotten, you didn't do all of that alone. Hermione and I were right beside you throughout most of your adventures, and we're not taking a break. I know why you're stuck in the house, I was there when you and Draco argued, and I know what happened. Do you really think I wouldn't have noticed? I told you about the looks Draco kept giving you, and I also noticed the looks you kept giving back to him. Besides, Ginny told me that you'd been with someone and your little fight with Draco just cleared everything up for me. I know you're avoiding him, I can see why, but…he is your friend, and this little break of yours should be easily overcome if you're anything like you and I." Harry gave Ron a slight look, and Ron's ears turned a bright red in embarrassment, "Not in that way Harry, I mean...we've been friends for years, and we've had our fair share of arguments, if you're anything like us - "  
"It's not like that Ron. I...messed things up quite badly between Draco and me."  
"Then fix them! Look, he said he loves you."  
"Loved. He doesn't love me anymore, he said so himself."  
"And you'll let that stop you? You're Harry-sodding-Potter, you can do anything. He doesn't love you now, then make him love you again! I'm not claiming to like the snake, but he made you happy, and now he's gone you're reduced to hiding in this house with an elf for company."  
"I can't Ron, it's too late to go get him back. He said he didn't want anything to do with me, he said he was happy without me!"

"And you'll just accept that? Leave him be? Harry, everyone loves you, surely another person will." Harry shook his head, reminded horribly of how Draco had always said it was impossible to hate Harry,

"I. Can't. Ron." Harry ground out, refusing to discuss the matter any more,

"Fine, fine Harry, you can wallow in here and waste your life." Ron placed the paper he was carrying on the table, "Before you decide to become a hermit, have a quick look in the paper. There is a chance you could win Draco back. Good luck mate." Ron patted Harry on the back, who was looking at him suspiciously, and watched as the redhead walked to the front door. He paused, "If you can, try doing it before the wedding, there's a free bar and the bridesmaid is my sister…so I'd like to avoid future problems, if you don't mind." Ron smirked and opened the door, leaving Harry bewildered at the table with a paper in his hand.

O.o

Flipping through the paper Harry had no idea what Ron was going on about, there was nothing in there that could remotely help him. The most interesting article in there was about the new remodelling of Diagon Alley, which had been practically destroyed in the war, and all the shops were due to open in the next month or so. About to give up, he looked closer at the list of shops due to open soon, and lo and behold, in the list was an advertisement for a new apothecary, and in the advert was a smiling blonde man. Harry stroked his face with a finger, _Draco, _he said softly in his head, realising now exactly what it was Ron was getting at. This could be his only chance to get Malfoy to talk to him, face to face. He wouldn't have a choice, in front of so many people at the opening, and it would be bad business for the press to see him arguing with Harry. Although, there was no guarantee that Draco would talk to him, Harry needed something absolute, a reason to make Draco reply no matter what. He thought hard, trying to come up with a reason that didn't involve cursing Draco or holding anyone hostage…and then something clicked.

O.o

A week later, and Harry was twisting his hands together nervously, waiting for his watch to change to half one, when he knew he would have to apparate to Diagon Alley to attempt his make-up talk with Draco. He wasn't sure why he was so worried, the worst that could happen would be that Draco merely declined his offer to be his friend and Harry would have to go find some other amusing, intelligent and attractive blonde to hang out with. If there even was one.

The long hand on his pre-owned watch turned to the half past mark, and Harry walked purposefully towards the door, pulling it open and being momentarily blinded by the summer sun that burst through the door. Stepping out, he apparated on the doorstep, scaring a small black cat who was sunning itself on the neighbours' porch, and suddenly found himself at the edge of Diagon Alley, right in front of the apothecary itself. Ignoring the stares from various people, who all took one glance at his hair, then at his glasses and began to smile inanely, and then pushing forward past others to get to talk to him. Harry ignored them resolutely, pushing forwards and entering the apothecary without even glancing at any of the reporters.

Although it was filled with a multitude of people, the shop was still big enough to leave all of its supplies on display –under anti-theft charms for the meantime- and Harry gazed for a few minutes at the glittering unicorn hair that was a metre of so away from him. It was lucky that the Ministry hadn't confiscated a lot of the Malfoy's funds, whilst they had sent Lucius to prison, they'd left Draco and his mother, as well as Malfoy Manor, alone and so Draco had enough to buy the premises and purchase some of the more expensive potions ingredients, not to mention produce some more exotic potions. These ingredients were set to the back of the shop, out of the prying eyes of some of the shadier customers. Looking around, Harry noticed with a start that Rita Skeeter was standing only a few metres away looking forlornly at the piles of beetle eyes, no doubt mourning some fellow friends; Harry tried to back away quickly without her noticing but her eyes caught his movement and snapped upwards, locking onto his face. A grin appeared on her heavily-rouged lips and she grabbed a Quick-Quotes quill from her dragon-skin handbag. Harry quickly turned tail and pushed forwards into the crowd, eager to escape the foul woman who was now looking slightly disappointed. He watched as she perked up and began to make her way over to an unfortunate blonde man who hadn't been paying as much attention as he should have been. Harry smirked as the man started and began to try and wave the woman away to no avail. He turned back to the crowd; keep his head bowed and hoping no one would recognise him. A sudden silence fell across the crowd and Harry looked up to see Draco walking in front of the reporters, looking the picture of professionalism.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to my apothecary. I thank you for coming this afternoon, and for giving your time to report on the opening. I realise a lot of you wouldn't usually consider seeing me, so I cannot tell you how grateful I am." Harry admired Draco's calm tone, as he was just talking to each person in the audience alone, completely different to Harry who, after the war, had stammered and been subject to terrible stage fright, "I promise not to take up too much of your time, I shall just run you through what we offer here. It is my aim to produce and sell high quality potions and potion ingredients to the public for a reasonable price, which I suppose everyone else also offers. I can't claim to be different, but I can claim to be reliable. I'll also be working to produce new potions, I was lucky enough to receive the notes of Severus Snape and he had plenty of ideas which I will be working with. That's all I really have to say. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask."

Harry watched as Draco accepted questions from a variety of journalists, who didn't seem remotely interested in the shop but more in Draco's private life and what exactly was going on in it. Draco waved off these questions with an airy hand, but Harry noticed the tightening around his eyes which he attributed to frustration. Draco, like Harry, had put up with the press for many years and it was often hard to tell whether people were interested in your past or in your future. Never the less, Draco answered the questions as cryptically and as politely as he could, until eventually Harry was the one waiting to talk. He raised his hand and Draco instantly called to him to speak, unable to see who the hand belonged to. Harry's heart seemed to lodge itself in his stomach, but he stood up, and Draco's face changed from open and mostly care-free to stony in a matter of seconds.

"What do you want Potter?" He deadpanned in a voice that completely lacked any emotion except annoyance

"To talk. Face to face. I have some things to say, and for once you're going to hear me out." Harry said, putting forward his demands and turning his chin up in defiance.

"Well, it's a good thing I don't have to talk to you then Potter isn't it. Whatever you have to say, you mind as well say to a reporter, because I very much doubt it's of much importance." Harry ground his teeth together in frustration, he had assumed Draco would be over his little hissy-fit by now and wouldn't refuse to talk to him in public.

"You owe me." Harry said suddenly, and Draco finally showed something other than anger on his angular face, his eyebrows raised and a look of surprise caught Harry off guard. "I saved your life, and this is me taking that favour into account. Please, talk to me, hear me out…I'm not telling you to forgive me, but I'm telling you to listen to what I have to say." Harry waited, and Draco nodded, knowing he'd have to obey the rules of the life debt.

"Well then Potter, if you're so sure, take it away." He said sardonically,

"I…am sorry." Harry said, rather melodramatically.

"Was that all you had to say Potter? Because I've heard that one before, and it doesn't interest me much." Draco said, already looking away from Harry and deciding that he didn't need to continue paying Harry attention. Harry sighed,

"I know, but I am sorry. For everything I did and everything I said. I know I hurt you, I know I was an idiot. I know what I did was wrong and I am sorry I ever did it." Draco classically raised an eyebrow, finally showing some interest in what Harry had to say.

"Well thank you for that Potter, I am touched that you are sorry. Now if you don't mind, I do have a shop to run and I doubt these people want to stand around here so you can tell me how sorry you are."

"…I love you." Harry stammered out suddenly, his entire speech lost as he just told Draco the one thing he actually needed to say. Draco stood back slightly, even more surprised now, though he wasn't showing it. A sudden silence fell on the audience as they waited for Draco to reply. Harry continued, "I think I've loved you since last summer after we got drunk and you just decided to be…you. No judgements, no snarky comments, just you. I didn't realise it, I didn't realise anything until you suddenly stopped talking to me. I didn't even notice until you suddenly told me that you didn't want me anymore. Because it hurt, it hurt a lot and the fact that you just told me you didn't want me caused me to hide out in my house for weeks because I was worried what I would do if I left." He gestured, "This by the looks of things." He pushed through the crowd, "Draco Malfoy, I love you. I don't care what people say, this is me outing myself in front of all these reporters. Who cares what they say? I only care about you, and I only want your opinion to count. I just want you to take me back, even just as a friend. I just want you back." Harry finished rather abruptly, waiting for Draco to say something, anything. Eventually a small smile broke out on Draco's face,

"God Potter, you're such an idiot. Took you long enough." He looked to the audience, "Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to inform you, that the shop will be closing early today. I have better things to do. Please try to keep your articles tasteful when you report on this." He smirked at the crowd, before walking forwards and grabbing Harry's hand. "You sure about this? Not going to change your mind all of a sudden are you?"

"No. Not again. Not ever." Harry said assuredly,

"Glad to hear it, because I love you too. But I won't put up with your crap again, so you're on your final warning. It's all or nothing." Harry nodded, gripping Draco's hand as tightly as he could,

"Then you have all of me. I just hope you like Howlers." Draco smirked at Harry and then leaned in to kiss him. It wasn't new to them by now, and Draco had thought of doing this in public so many times that he was completely unperturbed by the flashes of cameras all around him. Because he had him, he had Harry, and this time, this time he got to keep him.

O.o

It was nice not having to rush through sex. Although Harry and Draco had only done it twice, they'd been sort of rushed through it. The first time was under the influence of alcohol and the second had been a quick fuck, this time was an improvement, because it meant remembering, doing something worthwhile something meaningful. This time Draco had time to kiss every part of Harry's body, his eyelids, his cheekbones, his hipbones, savouring the unique taste of Harry's skin. This time Harry could look at Draco without pushing away the panic which was often present at the back of his mind, because he knew he _wasn't doing anything wrong _and it was a glorious feeling in his opinion. Not as glorious as kissing Draco, or the feeling of Draco inside him, but a wonderful feeling nonetheless. This time Harry kissed with as much energy as he could, he might've even fully dominated the kiss had Draco not been giving his best fight too. This time their clothes were removed leisurely, this time, they could lie on the bed just enjoying the moment, discovering things about the other that they hadn't known previously, such as the pressure point below Draco's ear which turned his legs to jelly and caused him to collapse on Harry. This time Draco could gently tease Harry by tracing fingers along Harry's erection, and Harry wouldn't yell at him because there were other times for hard, fast fucking, but this was about learning about the other. Draco knows Harry's taste, as does Harry know Draco's, he knows what he looks like when he orgasms, he knows the noises he makes, he knows what he enjoys and what he doesn't – or at least, he will, because there is time. And that's the greatest knowledge of all.

O.o

Epilogue:

Harry decided he quite enjoyed his mornings with Draco; sometimes they spent them lying with their arms around the other, quietly talking about their days or whatever popped into their heads. Sometimes they spent their mornings in a quite different way; with Harry's head down between Draco's thighs to the sweet melody of the noises which would spill out of the blonde's lips. Yes, Harry rather enjoyed his mornings with Draco, and so it was quite annoying to wake up and find yourself in the Burrow with a sleeping Ronald snoring next to you after so many blissful mornings _in peace and quiet _with Draco. However, he wasn't going to complain in a few hours Ron would be moving onwards in his life and getting married to Hermione, and once that happened he could spend as long as he wanted with Draco in bed without being dragged to wedding meetings and ring shopping, all of which was an incredible hassle. The unfortunate thing though about being the supportive best friend is that you couldn't ask your friends how on earth they manage to put up with their partners snoring, because Merlin knew that he had barely slept all night due to Ron's snoring.

Poking Ron continuously in the arm, as a way of waking him up nicely, Harry stared at his watch and watched the sun continue to rise and spill through Ron's small window. Eventually Ron pulled himself from the depths of sleep and decided to respond to Harry's continuous pokes, opening one bleary eye and staring at Harry with a dazed expression.

"Wha-what's goin' on Harry?" He mumbled, half his mouth obscured by the bed-sheets, Harry smiled down at Ron.

"Well Ronniekins," Harry said laughing as Ron winced at the unfortunate nickname penned by his older brothers, "You may have forgotten, but today is very important. It involves the colour white."

"White?" Ron mumbled back dubiously,

"Yes Ron, white. Some rings too."

"...What are you on about?"

"And a certain bushy-haired brainiac who will most likely cut off your testicles if you don't get up right now and get ready." Harry laughed as Ron suddenly sprang up, fully awake and with a feverish panicked look in his eyes.

"Oh gods, Harry don't say that, you don't know how mad she got the other day, I asked a question about why we needed phoenix shaped napkins and she practically breathed fire on me. It was a terrifying experience." Ron looked visibly shaken as he recalled how insane his fiancée had become in the recent weeks. "I much preferred it when she was stressed about exams, at least then we had some time away from the wedding."

"Well, good thing the wedding is today…in 2 hours actually, so perhaps now would be a good time to get up and dressed. I'm going to go have a quick check on George, to see if he's ready. Percy, Bill and Charlie are already up and dressed and helping your dad out in the garden. Your robes are on the back of the door; your mum is on the warpath to destroy all creases so make sure you're careful with them." With that, Harry made sure that Ron dragged himself out of the bed before exiting the room and making his way to George's room, which still smelt slightly like gunpowder and was probably one of the worst reminders that Fred wasn't around anymore. The red-head was sitting staring out the room blankly, full dressed but pulling at the hem on his robes absent-mindedly causing the material to start to fray. George didn't turn around when Harry entered the room but the picking at his robes increased and Harry knew straight away that George wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Hey mate. Can you help us out downstairs? Your mum's going spare looking for matching cutlery and we have to leave soon to get to the venue in time. I wouldn't usually ask, but Ginny is at Hermione's flat and she isn't really of much use. Ron is still half asleep too, so he's not much use." Harry made sure as to use a quiet voice when talking to George, he couldn't help it. He waited for a minute, and then George finally turned to look at him, his tired face illuminated in the morning sun.

"You don't need to bullshit me Harry; we've known each other long enough. And you've lost enough people to know how this feels, don't wrap me up in cotton wool, it just makes things so much worse. You don't need my help; you need to keep an eye on me. I get it, I understand. Give me a moment, I'll be down to help in a second, I seem to have lost my other shoe. I just need to find it." George wiggled his shoe-less foot for a minute to highlight his point and for a second Harry was reminded of the jokes he and Fred used to tell all the time. "He hides my things all the time you know. It's a bloody nuisance, and he knows it too. Idiot just wants my attention." George muttered, and Harry's brow knitted together,

"Who hides your stuff George?"

"He does. Fred does." Harry swallowed audibly, _not again, not today, _

"George – "

"I know he's dead Harry. I know it. I'm not crazy. Just because you can't see him doesn't mean he isn't here." George bent down to pick up his shoe which was hidden behind several of the boxes within the room, "Found it. He never hides it far away; you'd think he was over these juvenile little pranks by now, Merlin knows we did better." Harry was particularly unnerved by George's random murmurings, but he just accepted the older man and led him down the stairs, grabbing Ron on the way down, shaking off the feeling of worry that was pressing on his chest. _It's for another day Harry, not now, not today. George will be okay for today._

O.o

The grounds that Hermione had chosen for the wedding looked beautiful; because the wedding was scheduled for the summer they had been hoping for lovely weather, which they had been blessed with and so there amongst the flowered bushes was a simple wedding arch adorned with golden balloons and white streamers. In front of it were rows of chairs, and Harry was reminded of Bill and Fleur's marriage and his uncomfortable Muggle disguise. He always felt guilty for ruining their wedding reception but Bill and Fleur didn't seem to care. Besides, he felt as if he could make up for this by helping Ron and Hermione's wedding run as smoothly as possible.

"Harry we really need your help. The guy who's meant to be organising the flowers has managed to injure his wand arm and he needs someone to help him colour code the bushes; sounds stupid I know, but you're the only one here who is any good at following instructions and I'm swamped with the catering guys and that stupid warlock keeps asking me questions about what I'm going to say in the ceremony." Ron interrupted Harry's train of thought with a rush of requests for help. Harry quickly made his way over to the injured man and helped him trim the dead flowers and change their colours to match the colour scheme of the bridesmaid's dresses and then moved on to speak to the servers who apparently couldn't understand what they were meant to do with the cake. Before he knew it, people were beginning to arrive and the Weasley's, plus Harry were all waiting to accept people in and seat them. Ron was busy standing awkwardly in front of the arch, looking unsure as to what he was meant to be doing.

"Weasley doesn't look particularly happy to be here." Harry turned to see Draco, dressed in some navy and silver robes glancing disparagingly at Ron. Harry smiled and shrugged,

"He doesn't quite know what to do with himself. People keep smiling at him and he can barely manage a grimace. He'll be fine when Hermione arrives, he always is."

"Let's hope so. Anyway, I have no idea where I should sit, but I'm sure you'll be happy to lead me." Draco held an arm aloft and waited for Harry to grasp it. Harry grinned, and instead linked his hand with Draco's, pecking him on the cheek.

"Of course Mr Malfoy, you're seated on the right. Hermione's side, Ron might've helped me get you back but he still doesn't like you." Harry led Draco to a seat and released his hand.

"See you after the ceremony; grab me a table if I'm delayed." Harry kissed Draco properly on the lips, ignoring the little whispers which were coming from the witches a few chairs behind him and making his way back to the new arrivals.

O.o

"…then I declare you bonded for life." Harry watched with a wide grin as the now wedded Hermione and Ron kissed under the arch, golden stars shooting around them. Loud, raucous applause was going on all around him and he cheered on the couple. Eventually they broke away and Ron gave a slight bow to the audience before allowing them all to rush forwards and hug the couple. Harry moved forwards with Ginny and Luna, ignoring the slightly strained edge to Ginny's grin and smiling warmly at them both, before enveloping Ron and Hermione in a group hug of some sorts.

"Congratulations mate seems you bagged one of the best girls there are. Lucky thing I didn't swoop in and get her first eh?" Harry said with a wink at Ron, laughing as Hermione blushed,

"Oh haha Harry, I might actually be worried about that threat if you weren't here with your _boyfriend._" Ron said pointedly, "But you're quite right," He tightened his grip around Hermione who was blushing and grinning nervously as she talked excitedly with Ginny and Luna. "I have no idea why she chose me, all I know is thank Merlin she did." He kissed her on the cheek again, "I just hope she doesn't go wedding crazy again…the napkin incident was quite frightening."

"I think your testicles are safe Ron." Harry said, laughing as Hermione raised one eyebrow in question to his statement, "Don't worry 'Mione, I know for sure you can come up with something a lot better to torture him with. So Ron, keep on your toes, she's got a lot up her sleeve." He clapped Ron on the back and then moved through the crowd to meet Draco who was smiling happily and watching the other guests from a safe distance.

"You know what; these weddings really aren't that bad. I don't know why I was so worried about coming here." Draco said, wrapping an arm around Harry's waist protectively.

"Because you're a drama queen." Harry said earnestly, laughing as Draco shot him a sharp glare, "It's true, you know it. To compensate for it though, I shall say that you look radiant in those robes."

"You're all charm Mr Potter. I can see why I've kept you around." Draco said, laughing slightly at Harry's pathetic apology,

"I think there are a few other reasons behind it. But yes, I am the epitome of charm." He smiled even more, "I'm surprised, I thought by now you would've slunk off into the darkest corner of the tent. I'm proud to see you still standing, smiling even." Harry teased Draco gently,

"I don't hate all weddings you know. Just family ones."

"What about your own?" Harry asked wryly,

"Of course not. I'd be getting married to you, why would I hate that?" Draco asked suddenly, catching Harry off guard,

"Do you mean that?" Harry asked suspiciously,

"Mean what?"

"You want us to get married?" Harry asked, hearing his heart beat faster in his chest, trying to push its way into his throat.

"Harry, I love you. I believe I've said to you before that I definitely would enjoy being bonded to you for the rest of our lives. So yes, I want us to get married."

"But your parents – "

" – Can go to hell for all I care. I love you, I want you, you're the one I want to marry. Not Astoria."  
"You really mean it?" Harry said incredulously,

"Yes Harry. I mean it." Draco said, rolling his eyes. "So, shall we set a date?"

"Save me a dance and I'll think about it." Draco smiled warmly, allowing himself to be pulled onto the dance floor by Harry, who wrapped his arms around Draco and kissed him softly, before leaning on his shoulder, and whispering,

"This is a yes by the way. I'd love to marry you." Harry said, as he grinned into Draco's neck as they moved around on the dance-floor in a slow circle, with small sparkling fireworks whizzing around their heads in the warm summer air.


End file.
